Mark Green's Return Home Almost What He Wanted

Mark Green hoped his return to Kentucky would give him the chance to grab his first top-five of the season for the #55 crew, but handling problems with the car early in the race kept the #55 team from reaching its full potential.

Green started Saturday's inaugural Outback Steakhouse 300 in the 23rd spot, but quickly tried to make the pass on Ricky Hendrick for the 22nd spot. As Green went around the #24 on the outside, three other cars moved below and made the pass on Green and sent the #55 Busch Series Ladies Association Ford back to the 25th spot. Green remained in 24th until he began a charge forward on lap 55 by passing Kelly Denton for the 23rd position.

By lap 67 Green had worked his way up to 17th when the caution came out. Green entered the pits in 16th, but trouble on pit road sent the team back on the track in 19th. Several laps later Green avoided the spinning Christian Elder machine in turn four to bring the #55 Ford back to the caution flag in 18th.

Green had moved the #55 Busch Series Ladies Association into the 16th position when Jeff Green and Jimmie Johnson made contact and collided with the wall. Mark Green brought the #55 Ford safely around the track to the 14th position as he took the yellow flag. On the ensuing restart Green was shuffled back to 17th when several cars in front of the #55 Ford delayed in taking the green flag, forcing Green to ease off the gas long enough for several competitors to move to the inside.

Green would eventually lose a lap to race-leader Kevin Harvick on lap 131, running in the 18th position at the time. After a lengthy pit stop on lap 135, Green dropped to the 24th position, still one lap down. He slowly worked his way back up to 17th with only 12 laps remaining in the race. Green and Scott Wimmer began a heated battle for the 16th position, with Green edging him out by a mere five feet for the position as they took the checkered flag.

"We had a pretty good finish today, but we had a car good enough to finish in the top-ten for sure. We lost a lap to Harvick because the car was acting up a little on me. The car was really loose at first, so we tightened it up. We made it a little too tight though, and that is why Harvick caught me to put me a lap down. After our second stop the car was running great, but we never could get our lap back," said Green.

"Even though we did not finish as high as we wanted, I really enjoyed racing here. This track is great, and the fans were certainly very supportive of us. I liked racing in front of the home crowd here in Kentucky, and I look forward to coming back here again in the future."