Green credited for putting Hendrick COT on fast track (cont'd)

From the very outset, the Jim Long-led Hendrick Motorsports R&D team knew it had its hands full. It wanted to win the first pole and the first race for the NASCAR-mandated car, but how was it going to accomplish the feat?

"The whole mind set that those took in working with the Car of Tomorrow was, 'It's not the prettiest car and it's so much different, but Mr. Hendrick has put a job in front of us. We're gonna do the very best we can with this project,'" Green said. "Jim Long and the five or six guys who work on that team took a project and started from scratch in the beginning. I saw how it matured and flourished.

Experience of Green

David Green will serve as a mentor for young Bobby Santos as well as fill seat time for a new Busch Series operation at Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports.

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"We had times where we didn't think we were making any headway. It was all on our shoulders to head in the right direction. To see all that is almost like winning, driving into Victory Lane."

According to Green, he thought the car drove well almost from the first laps he made at Milwaukee. He was coming at it from the perspective of a driver who'd spent the majority of his career in the Busch Series, where cars have distinctly different handling characteristics than their Cup counterparts.

"I thought it drove good," Green said. "I say that, because I've always said that the Cup car drives better than a Busch car. Mechanically, the Cup cars have always driven better. So when we ran the first time, to me it drove just like a Cup car. And that's good. Keep in mind that it's a Hendrick Cup car that also happens to be a COT."

Overall, there were few changes to be made with the Hendrick COT.

"From the driving end of it, the car changed minutely," Green insisted. "I think the things that we worked on were just to keep it driving good. From where it started to where it ended up wasn't a huge swing. It was like from the very first time out, they had the package. All we did was just fluff and buff and go from there. It's no different than they do things in general."

Green was released by Brewco in September of last year. For him, it was an unexpected move. He had been down that road before, and it wasn't a happy one. Still, testing for Hendrick gave him confirmation that he could still get the job done.

He wasn't out of racing entirely. Not yet.

"You have all this data and you have all these guys at the top of their game witnessing everything you do," Green said. "The bottom line is having them say, 'You know what? What you just said is exactly what we see.' It is a personal test for me as a driver, every lap that I made in those cars for those guys. It's a personal test not only for my ability, but also for my stake in NASCAR."

Green's most recent test with Hendrick Motorsports was in January at Lakeland, Fla. For the first time, there were other teams present. It was go time. It was time for Green to see exactly how the cars in which he had contributed so much stacked up against other competition.

It was time for Green and the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports R&D team to receive its report card. One by one, as the test progressed and the car was working as it should, the organization's other crew chiefs came by and thanked Long for his work on the COT program.

Leading up to wins by Hendrick drivers Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon in the three COT races to date, for Green, that was the most satisfying moment of his involvement in the program.

"I think that was about the most satisfying test I did," Green said. "We were there, sort of in competition. We weren't just the only car there at a facility. We were there with our teammates. We were there with our competition. The R&D team had an opportunity to strut our stuff. We were proud that we were continually making headway."

In the end, Green never got nervous during tests with Hendrick Motorsports. It's one of the most powerful operations in the sport, but Green never got antsy.

Maybe he should have, but he didn't.

"When you're strapped in the car at a test with those guys, they're serious," Green said. "Looking back, I probably should've been a little more nervous because this was a huge deal. I never got nervous. They're good people. They're appreciative, and they treat you like family.

But looking back, after they won the first three races and two poles, I get nervous thinking about it. I had no idea we were embarking on such a project."