Crew Chief Harold Holly: “I Think Everything We’ve Learned so Far Will Pay Off”
Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
May 22, 2007
What did you learn this past weekend in the NEXTEL Open that you can apply to this weekend’s Coke 600?
“Well, after all the cautions got out of the way, we got a shot at a long green flag run, and that taught us some pretty valuable things. We got an opportunity to take a big view at which way the race track is going to go in terms of how your car is going to handle. You’re going to have to have a pretty neutral balance (on the car’s setup) in the early going.
“I think you’ll see the track go tight for awhile, and as the air temperature goes down, I think you’ll see it go the other way. Just simply because of the adhesion on the race track. Having the opportunity to watch the All-Star Challenge as opposed to being involved in it, I listened to a lot of different driver comments over the scanner. I listened to (Jeff) Gordon and Jimmie (Johnson) and a few others and heard what they had to say. ”
While the No. 66 team didn’t make the All-Star Challenge, did having a Haas car in the Challenge (the No. 70, driven by Johnny Sauter) provide a morale boost for the organization?
“Johnny and Bootie (Barker) and all the guys on the No. 70 car did a fantastic job. They got themselves in the right place to be able to capitalize on the situation. Had there been a couple of different restart situations, I think we could have been up front with them.
“Jeff (Green) was clearly not overly happy with his car, but the car had a lot of speed to it and we were able to drive up through the field with it, which is not something we’ve been able to do at a lot of the other mile-and-a-half tracks this year. I think everything we’ve learned so far will pay off.
“To see Johnny run as good as he did once he got the car out front was a real motivator for us to go out there and have a good qualifying run and capitalize on the track position this weekend. ”
How did the test session at Lowe’s Motor Speedway earlier this month turn out for the No. 66 team?
“The first day was great, but the second day was pretty rough. We had our fast car on the first day, and we spent the second day trying to get our second car to compare with our fast car. We struggled with that most of the day.
“By the time we switched back to the fast car late in the day, we were a step or two behind what the track was doing, and we spent the rest of the time trying to catch back up. I think we learned a lot of good information, and I think we’ll be good when we go back, but that second day wasn’t the best day of testing we’ve ever had. ”
Now that this new track surface has a year of wear and weathering, do you see a big difference in how the car responds?
“We’re still using the same tire we had from the spring race here last year, but I have to say the tires seem to be hanging on to the grip pretty well. ”
Locals: Several members of the No. 66 Best Buy Racing team were born in North Carolina, including Tire Specialist Jeff Tucker (High Point, NC), Second Truck Driver Gary Buffkin (Whiteville, NC), and pit crew member Phillip Gee (Mt. Pleasant, NC).
Jeff Green’s History At Lowe’s Motor Speedway: In 13 Nextel Cup Series starts at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS), Jeff Green’s best qualifying effort was a fourth-place starting spot in the May, 1997, race, driving for team owner Gary Bechtel. Green’s best Cup finish at Lowe’s was an 11th-place finish in May, 2005, driving a Petty Enterprises car.
Last year, Green and his No. 66 team finished 12th in the Coca-Cola 600, and 16th in the October 14th NEXTEL Cup Series race at LMS.
In 18 Busch Series starts at LMS, Green has two wins (Green won the May race two years in a row, in 2001 and 2002, but the wins came with different teams. In 2001, Green won while working with Harold Holly and their Greg Pollex-owned team, but his 2002 victory came in a Richard Childress Racing entry), six top-fives and 10 top-10 finishes.
HaasCnc Racing’s History At Lowe’s Motor Speedway: In eight Nextel Cup Series starts at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the Haas CNC Racing team’s best starting spot was a fifth-place qualifying run by driver Jack Sprague in the May, 2003, race. The team’s best finish came in May, 2006, when driver Jeff Green finished 12th.
