Pit Road Miscue, Brake Problems Prove Costly for No. 66 Team at Richmond

RICHMOND, VA (May 6) – Driver Jeff Green and his No. 66 Haas CNC Racing team settled in among the frontrunners throughout the first half of Sunday’s 400-lap NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

In what was the fourth race this season in which teams have used the new Car of Tomorrow (COT) design, Green and his No. 66 Chevrolet Impala SS appeared headed for a third top-10 finish in a COT event (on the heels of sixth-place runs at Bristol Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway).

But a pit road miscue just past the midway point of the race dropped Green a lap down to the race leaders, and brake issues in the latter stages of the race added to his team’s misfortunes.

On two separate occasions, the front brakes locked up on Green’s car as he entered a turn at the .750-mile speedway. The first time it happened, Green slid up the track and made contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. around lap 285. When the brake issue reappeared some 70 laps later, Green made contact with Greg Biffle, damaging both cars.

By the time the checkered flag was displayed for race winner Jimmie Johnson, Green’s hard luck left him with a 24th-place finish. The result drops Green one spot to 24th (unofficially) in the NEXTEL Cup Series drivers’ points standings.

“We’ve got some work to do on our brake package,” Green said. “The front brakes locked up on me and I got into (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. Then it happened again with (Greg) Biffle. I apologize to those guys. The brakes locked up and it just wouldn’t turn.

“I definitely didn’t mean to hurt anybody else’s day. We had a good car, but man, obstacles kept getting in our way. A lug nut fell off on one stop and we went from the top-10 to being a lap down, and then our brake problems are really frustrating.”

The finish was especially disappointing to Green and his Haas CNC Racing crew after the way their car performed earlier in the day.

After rain forced NASCAR to postpone the start of the race from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, the No. 66 team was eager to get its entry on track and replicate the successful runs Green enjoyed in two of the previous three COT races.

Starting from the 12th position, Green quickly worked his way up as high as sixth position, remaining in the top-10 for over 160 laps.

NASCAR Timing and Scoring displays showed Green had one of the fastest cars of the 43 drivers competing in the event in the early going.

In fact, both Haas CNC Racing entries were strong in the early stages of the race, with Green’s teammate, Johnny Sauter, also finding his way into the top-10 from his 17th-place starting spot.

Sauter’s chances at a good finish were ended when the car of Juan Pablo Montoya slid into Sauter’s No. 70 Chevrolet around lap 118, causing Sauter to slide up into the outside retaining wall. Sauter’s team was able to keep him in the race, but not on the lead lap.

Green was still running in the top-10 when he came to pit road for fresh tires and fuel around lap 203. As his crew was performing a four-tire pit stop under green flag conditions, a lug nut fell off the left front wheel of the No. 66 machine. A series official spotted the problem, and under NASCAR rules (which states that each wheel must be held on with five lug nuts), Green had to come back down pit lane a second time so his crew could replace the missing lug nut.

Since the problem happened while green flag racing was underway, Green lost precious track position when he had to stop a second time, which put him a lap down to the race leaders, in 34th position.

Green worked his way back up as high as 24th position before his brakes locked up on lap 285. Smoke billowed from Green’s tires as his car slid up the track and into the side of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s. No. 8 machine. Earnhardt Jr. spun out, but didn’t hit anything. Both drivers were able to continue, but Green had to come to pit road for fresh tires, and to allow his crew to pull sheet metal away from his car’s right front tire area.

Gren returned to the race in 31st position, and again worked his way up as high as 24th position. On lap 355, the brake problem resurfaced, and Green made contact with Greg Biffle. The rear of Biffle’s car was damaged in the accident, as was the front end alignment on Green’s No. 66 Chevrolet.

Green’s crew reset his car’s alignment and returned him to the track in 28th position. The final laps of the event were slowed by a series of caution periods, and Green finished the race in 24th position.

Sunday marked the second time brake problems have cost the Haas team at a short track. Green was running in the top-15 in the COT race at Martinsville Speedway in early April before failing brakes caused him to lose multiple laps to the race leaders.

“Brakes got us at Martinsville (Speedway), too, so we’ll be looking hard at that at the shop and get it fixed,” Green said. “Again, I just want to apologize to (Earnhardt Jr. and Biffle) and their teams.”

Green and his team will have little time to dwell on their frustrating day, as next week brings two days of testing in the team’s “backyard” of Concord, NC, at the 1.5-mile Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The No. 66 team will test both Monday and Tuesday, May 7-8, to prepare for two important races coming up later this month at the speedway. First is the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, a non-points all star race, which happens on Saturday, May 19. The second event, scheduled for Sunday, May 27, is the Coke 600. At 600 miles in length, it’s the longest race of the NASCAR season, starting in the late afternoon and not ending until well after 11 p.m. EDT.

When testing ends, the teams have just a couple of days to prepare for next weekend’s 500-mile race at Darlington (S.C.) Speedway. Known as “The Lady in Black, and “The Track too Tough to Tame,” this 1.33-mile egg-shaped oval near the coast of South Carolina is one of the most legendary tracks on the NASCAR circuit.

The 500-mile race from Darlington Speedway airs live on Saturday, May 12, on FOX and MRN Radio affiliates, beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT.