BUSCH SERIES Green seeks more success

David Green placed second in the NASCAR Busch Series standings last season.
By DAVE KALLMAN
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In one sense, David Green still stings from his second-place finish in the NASCAR Busch Series standings last season.
Just 14 points separated Green from Brian Vickers when the checkered flag fell in Homestead, Fla. That's a difference of three or four positions after 6,669 laps of racing.
But on the other hand, Green had to be thankful to have a job, much less a chance at a second title.
Green's up-and-down ride through the ranks of NASCAR had bottomed out after 2001, and there just hasn't been much interest lately in struggling 40-something drivers, no matter their credentials.
"As much as I didn't want to think about it, all the indications were that nobody was going to give me a shot," the 46-year-old racer from Owensboro, Ky., said. "I'm a kind of guy who listens and takes everything to heart, and everybody made me think I was done. But you know what? That, a lot of times, will fuel your fire."
Foiled
But fueled or not, Green still needed a chance. Each time throughout his career that he got one, it seemed, Green would have it pulled out from under him. Green parlayed his 1994 title into a ride in NASCAR's premier division, but Buz McCall's first-year team struggled, sending him bouncing back and forth between Winston Cup and Busch for several years. Green seemed to re-establish himself with Cicci-Welliver Racing, scoring a ninth-place finish in the 2000 Busch season, but then sponsor troubles eventually put that team out of business, too.
"I should have put myself in better positions," Green said. "I thought it might have really bit me, because in 2002 nothing was happening, nobody was calling."
Green took to hanging around with Vickers' family-owned team and took a job as the spotter for Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett.
Only when Ricky Hendrick got hurt did Green get a good shot again. Although Hendrick ultimately picked Vickers as his replacement, Green performed well enough is his six-race stint in Hendrick's Busch car to hook up with the solid Brewco Motorsports team for 2003.
The team and driver meshed, and Green posted a career-best three victories, staying in contention all year. Although he fell three laps down in the finale, Green made up the distance and actually finished two spots ahead of Vickers in the race.
Green's quest for another title resumes Saturday when the Busch Series' season-opening Hershey's Kisses 300.