Green credited for putting Hendrick COT on fast track

David Green didn't get a piece of the trophy when Hendrick Motorsports swept the first three Car of Tomorrow races, and he won't if one of the team's drivers wins the next COT race Saturday night in Richmond. He hasn't yet made the trip to Victory Lane. Not many people knew how much he'd contributed to the wins, or even that he had at all.

What Green did get, though, has probably meant far more to him both personally and professionally. He received validation as a racecar driver.

Quite likely no other driver has turned as many laps in a COT than Green, who first tested the machine for Hendrick Motorsports at The Milwaukee Mile in the spring of 2006. Since then, he's put in literally thousands of laps at numerous tests for the powerhouse organization. Green has provided volumes upon volumes of input on the car, and hindsight being 20/20, he obviously knew what he was talking about.

Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Kyle Busch, gave Green and the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports research and development team a shout-out following Busch's win in the first COT race at Bristol. To Green, the compliment was golden.

"I'm only a small, small part of that whole deal there," Green said. "But that's the kind of people who work at Hendrick Motorsports, guys who appreciate everything that happens. It's very satisfying to me. ... I watched them take the checkered flag in the first three races for the COT car, and my feelings went out the ceiling.

"The personal satisfaction was like a trophy. It meant far more than that. Those guys set out to make something happen, and I personally set out to do the very best job I could for them. When it was all said and done and the dust settled, the car was 3-for-3."

Green's relationship with Hendrick Motorsports extends back to 2000, when Ricky Hendrick was making his first tentative steps into the Busch Series. Even while Green was racing the series full time with a team owned by Frank Cicci, he was helping the rookie during testing.

The partnership blossomed. Green did some testing in the 24 car, which has achieved some pretty fair success. Green went to a test with Ricky Hendrick at Kansas in late 2002, but crashed a quarter of the way through the race itself. When he retired from driving immediately thereafter, Green got the ride for the rest of the season.

In six races, Green finished in the top five three times and in the top-10 four. The Hendrick ride went to Brian Vickers during the offseason, but his showing with the team provided the momentum needed to land a deal with Brewco Motorsports. Ironically enough, Vickers and Green would go on to finish 1-2 for the championship in 2003, as part of the closest six-driver battle for the title in the history of the division.

Green drove his first COT test for Hendrick while still with Brewco last season.

"My relationship with Hendrick Motorsports just built and built and built," Green said. "When the Car of Tomorrow came up, I'm sure they could've asked many, many people. I was very blessed by the call, when they said, 'We've got this project and we'd like to see if you could help us out.'" (Continued)