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David Green (NASCAR)
Encyclopedia
David A. Green is a NASCAR
driver. He won the Nationwide Series championship in 1994. His two younger brothers, Jeff
and Mark
have also competed in the NASCAR circuit. Green is currently the spotter for Bobby Labonte
.
for Day Enterprise Racing, starting 15th but finishing 30th after suffering an engine failure. He ran two more races the next year, suffering transmission failure in both races. In 1991, Green signed up with FILMAR Racing
to drive the #8, and made an immediate impact, winning the pole position at the season-opening Goody's 300. Despite failing to qualify for two of the first seven races, Green won in just his 12th start at Lanier Raceway. He would finish runner-up to Jeff Gordon
for Rookie of the Year
. Surprisingly, Green was fired from the ride, and spent the 1992 season working as a member of Bobby Labonte's pit crew. When Labonte moved to Winston Cup in 1993, Green took over the team's #44 ride. Although he did not win, he finished in the top ten 16 times and finished third in the points. The next year, he won the Goody's 250
, nine poles, as well as the Busch Series championship. Green stayed with Labonte Racing and won four more poles in 1995, but dropped to twelfth in points.
in the championship chase. At the end of the season, McCall and Green elevated their operation to Winston Cup, this time as the #96 with sponsorship from Caterpillar
. Unfortunately, they were not able to duplicate their success, as Green failed to qualify for six races, and could only manage a best finish of 16th at the Coca-Cola 600
. Despite this, he still finished runner-up to Mike Skinner
for Rookie of the Year. After he could not manage a higher finish than 17th at Talladega Superspeedway
in 1998, Green was fired from the 96 ride. Green returned to the Busch Series to drive the #36 Stanley Works
Pontiac Grand Prix
for Team 34. He drove for the rest of the year, and finished in the top-five in his first six races for the team. Late in the season, he received a call from Larry Hedrick Motorsports
, who had been struggling following the release of Steve Grissom
from their #41 Kodiak
Chevy. Green would run four races for Hedrick for the rest of the year, and signed to drive for them in 1999. In addition, he would run the #41 AFG Industries car in the Busch Series for Hedrick on a limited schedule. Still, Green continued to struggle, but had the lowest DNQ count (2) in his career.
As the season began to close, Green signed on for the rest of the season with Tyler Jet Motorsports
, and enjoyed the best performance of his career, finishing a career-best 12th at Phoenix International Raceway
, then won the pole the next race at the inaugural Pennzoil 400. Green did well in the Busch Series, running seventeen races and having seven top-tens and a pole position. He ran the Bud Shootout in 2000 in a car owned by Jackie Joyner-Kersee
, and hoped to run the Daytona 500, but sponorship problems forced that deal to fall through. Green would fill in for an injured Bill Elliott
for two races later on that season, with a best finish of twenty-fifth.
, replacing Ricky Hendrick
in the #5. That performance gave Green a brief return to Cup, running two races in Hendrick's R&D car. During the season, he also worked in Winston Cup as a spotter for Dale Jarrett
.
In 2003, Green signed with Brewco Motorsports
, and returned to his winning form, as he visited victory lane three times, and finishing second in points. He would not win in 2004, but he did run another Cup race at Richmond
for Brewco, finishing 31st. In 2005, Green won at Pikes Peak
and had an eighth place finish in points. After failing to finish in the top-five during the 2006, Green was released from Brewco in the closing part of the season. He drove for Riley D'Hondt Motorsports
in a part-time schedule in 2007, making three starts with a best finish of eleventh. He also drove seven races in the 2007 season for Red Horse Racing
in the Craftsman Truck Series
, finishing fifth at Kentucky Speedway
. He spent 2008 as a test driver for JR Motorsports
, and ran the final race of the season in the #0 JD Motorsports Chevy. He signed up to drive the new #07 SK Motorsports team in 2009 full-time, but was released after several races. Green made one start in 2010 driving the #49 Chevy at Phoenix. In 2011, Green became the spotter for Bobby Labonte.
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver. He won the Nationwide Series championship in 1994. His two younger brothers, Jeff
Jeff Green (NASCAR)
Jeffery Green is an American stock car driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He currently drives part time in the Nationwide Series for Tri-Star Motorsports in their #44 entry and the Sprint Cup Series for Front Row Motorsports in their #55 entry.Green's 1990 Nashville Speedway USA championship...
and Mark
Mark Green (NASCAR)
Mark Green is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #49 Chevrolet for Jay Robinson Racing in the Nationwide Series on a part time basis. He is the brother of drivers, Jeff Green and David Green.- Beginnings :...
have also competed in the NASCAR circuit. Green is currently the spotter for Bobby Labonte
Bobby Labonte
Robert Alan "Bobby" Labonte is an American race car driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the #47 Kroger/Clorox/Kimberly-Clark/Kingsford/Reese Towpower Hitches Toyota Camry for JTG Daugherty Racing. He currently resides in Trinity, North Carolina. He is married to his wife...
.
Early Nationwide career
Green made his debut in 1989 at Hickory Motor SpeedwayHickory Motor Speedway
Hickory Motor Speedway is a short track located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most storied venues, and is often referred to as "The World's Most Famous Short Track" and the "Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars"....
for Day Enterprise Racing, starting 15th but finishing 30th after suffering an engine failure. He ran two more races the next year, suffering transmission failure in both races. In 1991, Green signed up with FILMAR Racing
FILMAR Racing
FILMAR Racing is a former NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series team. It was owned by Fil Martocci and crew chief Gil Martin. The team was sold in 1999 to the Pinnacle Motorsports Group and then to Davis & Weight Motorsports.- Beginnings :...
to drive the #8, and made an immediate impact, winning the pole position at the season-opening Goody's 300. Despite failing to qualify for two of the first seven races, Green won in just his 12th start at Lanier Raceway. He would finish runner-up to Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...
for Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Rookie of the Year
The NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award is presented to the first-year driver that has the best season in a NASCAR season. Each of NASCAR's national and regional touring series selects a RotY winner each year....
. Surprisingly, Green was fired from the ride, and spent the 1992 season working as a member of Bobby Labonte's pit crew. When Labonte moved to Winston Cup in 1993, Green took over the team's #44 ride. Although he did not win, he finished in the top ten 16 times and finished third in the points. The next year, he won the Goody's 250
Goody's 250
The Goody's 250 was a NASCAR Busch Series stock car race held at Martinsville Speedway, in Martinsville, Virginia. The race was only held once, on July 22, 2006, as a standalone event during the summer. It had been speculated the race would be held at night, under a temporary lighting system to be...
, nine poles, as well as the Busch Series championship. Green stayed with Labonte Racing and won four more poles in 1995, but dropped to twelfth in points.
Winston Cup
After the 1995 season, Green was offered a contract from Buz McCall, owner of the new American Equipment Racing team. Running the #95, Green returned to his former dominance, winning twice and finishing runner-up to Johnny BensonJohnny Benson
Jonathan Benson, Jr. is an American NASCAR driver and the son of former Michigan modified driver John Benson, Sr...
in the championship chase. At the end of the season, McCall and Green elevated their operation to Winston Cup, this time as the #96 with sponsorship from Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...
. Unfortunately, they were not able to duplicate their success, as Green failed to qualify for six races, and could only manage a best finish of 16th at the Coca-Cola 600
Coca-Cola 600
The Coca-Cola 600, formerly known as the World 600, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held each year at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina on Memorial Day weekend...
. Despite this, he still finished runner-up to Mike Skinner
Mike Skinner (NASCAR)
Mike Skinner is an American driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He is the primary driver of the #60 Big Red Soda Toyota Camry for Germain Racing. He is the father of former NASCAR drivers Jamie and Dustin Skinner...
for Rookie of the Year. After he could not manage a higher finish than 17th at Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, United States. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base just outside the small city of Lincoln. It was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in...
in 1998, Green was fired from the 96 ride. Green returned to the Busch Series to drive the #36 Stanley Works
Stanley Works
Stanley Black & Decker , formerly known as The Stanley Works, is a manufacturer of tools and hardware and provider of security products and locks headquartered in New Britain, Connecticut...
Pontiac Grand Prix
Pontiac Grand Prix
Picking up where the Pontiac Ventura model left off, the Grand Prix first appeared in the Pontiac line for 1962. It was essentially a standard Pontiac Catalina coupe with minimal outside chrome trim and a sportier interior...
for Team 34. He drove for the rest of the year, and finished in the top-five in his first six races for the team. Late in the season, he received a call from Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Larry Hedrick Motorsports is a former NASCAR team. It was owned by businessman Larry Hedrick and always fielded the #41 Chevrolet in both the Winston Cup and the Busch Series. The team ran from 1990 until its closure in 2001.- Beginnings :...
, who had been struggling following the release of Steve Grissom
Steve Grissom
Steve Grissom is a NASCAR driver. Grissom was the 1993 Busch Series champion and has eleven Busch wins in 185 starts. He turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Alabama to focus a career on racing....
from their #41 Kodiak
Kodiak tobacco
Kodiak is a brand of dipping tobacco manufactured by American Snuff Company, a U.S. smokeless tobacco manufacturer that also produces the Grizzly tobacco and Levi Garrett brands...
Chevy. Green would run four races for Hedrick for the rest of the year, and signed to drive for them in 1999. In addition, he would run the #41 AFG Industries car in the Busch Series for Hedrick on a limited schedule. Still, Green continued to struggle, but had the lowest DNQ count (2) in his career.
As the season began to close, Green signed on for the rest of the season with Tyler Jet Motorsports
Tyler Jet Motorsports
Tyler Jet Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup race team.Tyler Jet Motorsports was owned by Tim Beverly, owner of the airplane sales company that shared a name with the race team, and was formed in 1998 after Beverly purchased the assets of DarWal, Inc...
, and enjoyed the best performance of his career, finishing a career-best 12th at Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix International Raceway, also known as PIR, is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. The track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the Indycar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series...
, then won the pole the next race at the inaugural Pennzoil 400. Green did well in the Busch Series, running seventeen races and having seven top-tens and a pole position. He ran the Bud Shootout in 2000 in a car owned by Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jacqueline "Jackie" Joyner-Kersee is a retired American athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the women's heptathlon as well as in the women's long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, in those four different events...
, and hoped to run the Daytona 500, but sponorship problems forced that deal to fall through. Green would fill in for an injured Bill Elliott
Bill Elliott
William Clyde "Bill" Elliott , also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville or Million Dollar Bill, is a part-time driver and former champion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Elliott was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on August 15, 2007. He won the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup...
for two races later on that season, with a best finish of twenty-fifth.
Current run
In 2000, Green returned to Team 34, taking sponsor AFG with him. That year, he had eleven top-ten finishes, and then six more the following year. At the end of that season, AFG left, and Green was left without a permanent ride. After a few part-time rides, Green finished out the season with Hendrick MotorsportsHendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports , originally named All Star Racing, is a current American auto racing team created in 1984 by Rick Hendrick. The team currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chevrolet Impalas...
, replacing Ricky Hendrick
Ricky Hendrick
Joseph Riddick Hendrick IV , also known as Ricky Hendrick, was an American NASCAR stock car driver and partial owner at Hendrick Motorsports, a team that his father Rick Hendrick founded. He was born in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 2, 1980, and began his career in racing at the age of fifteen...
in the #5. That performance gave Green a brief return to Cup, running two races in Hendrick's R&D car. During the season, he also worked in Winston Cup as a spotter for Dale Jarrett
Dale Jarrett
Dale Arnold Jarrett is a former American race car driver and current sports commentator known for winning the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship...
.
In 2003, Green signed with Brewco Motorsports
Brewco Motorsports
Baker Curb Racing, formerly known as Brewco Motorsports, is a racing team that competes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, it is owned by Gary Baker, former owner of Bristol Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway, and record executive Mike Curb...
, and returned to his winning form, as he visited victory lane three times, and finishing second in points. He would not win in 2004, but he did run another Cup race at Richmond
Richmond International Raceway
Richmond International Raceway is a 3/4-mile , D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series...
for Brewco, finishing 31st. In 2005, Green won at Pikes Peak
Pikes Peak International Raceway
Pikes Peak International Raceway, also known as PPIR, is a participant focused racetrack located in Fountain, Colorado, south of Colorado Springs and north of Pueblo...
and had an eighth place finish in points. After failing to finish in the top-five during the 2006, Green was released from Brewco in the closing part of the season. He drove for Riley D'Hondt Motorsports
Riley D'Hondt Motorsports
D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports is a NASCAR Nationwide Series and ARCA team owned by Eddie D'Hondt and Randy Humphrey. The team will field the #90 car for Danny O'Quinn, Jr. and the #91 car for David Gilliland beginning in 2010.- NASCAR :...
in a part-time schedule in 2007, making three starts with a best finish of eleventh. He also drove seven races in the 2007 season for Red Horse Racing
Red Horse Racing
Red Horse Racing is an American racing team based in Mooresville, North Carolina. It is co-owned by business executive Tom DeLoach and NASCAR on Fox broadcaster Jeff Hammond...
in the Craftsman Truck Series
Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing...
, finishing fifth at Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. and Jerry Carroll, who, along with four other investors, owned...
. He spent 2008 as a test driver for JR Motorsports
JR Motorsports
JR Motorsports is a NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, cousin and former crew chief Tony Eury, Jr., and the owner of his Cup ride Rick Hendrick. It currently fields the No...
, and ran the final race of the season in the #0 JD Motorsports Chevy. He signed up to drive the new #07 SK Motorsports team in 2009 full-time, but was released after several races. Green made one start in 2010 driving the #49 Chevy at Phoenix. In 2011, Green became the spotter for Bobby Labonte.