Bristol brings hope for Jeff Green

After qualifying ninth on Friday in his new No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet Impala SS, Green backed up his performance with a sixth-place finish in Sunday's 500-lap NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at Bristol. "If this is the future, maybe this is the future for our team and for Best Buy and for Haas racing and everyone involved with our team," Green said. "This is where we're supposed to be. I'm just excited for my guys. Top-10 is where we need to be ending up after each and every one of these races." The finish not only marked the first top-10 result of the 2007 season for Green and his Haas CNC Racing team, but also stands as the best Cup series result in the history of the Haas organization. More importantly, the finish unofficially vaults team owner Gene Haas up seven spots (from 35th to 28th) in the all-important NEXTEL Cup Series owners' points standings. This means the No. 66 team has a guaranteed starting spot in next weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway. Lady Luck shined on the Haas team while Green was the only driver one lap down to the race leaders. Running in 17th position at the time, Green received what is known as the "Lucky Dog" free pass after the caution flag came out on lap 413 due to debris on the track. As the finish unfolded, Green found himself crossing the line in sixth position, his best finish since an eighth-place run at Martinsville Speedway last October. "It's momentum for sure," Green said. "We know we can do this. We just have to get out and do it and not get down on each other and I think we have the last couple of weeks. But this is a momentum builder for sure and a pride builder for sure. Harold (Holly) and those guys did a great job and I'm not going to give up on them and I know they're not going to give up on me."