Mark Green still interested in proving his worth as a driver

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Thursday, May 22, 2008
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Jamie Squire
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Mark Green was ready to walk away from competitive driving. At age 49, the best years of the middle brother of the Green racing family were behind him.

Green was content to work as a spotter in NASCAR, test for Michael Waltrip Racing and fill in as a driver when David Reutimann wasn't available.

He had driven in NASCAR since 1995 and had become a mainstay on what was called the Busch Series. Never a winner, Green often toiled in lesser equipment, doing his best with what he had.

But he wasn't going to do that anymore. Green was ready to - gasp - retire.

"I was pretty much content that I wasn't going to do it anymore," Green said recently.

Green wasn't ready to hit the rocking chair, as he still would be involved in NASCAR as a spotter, coach and backup driver. Working for MWR was, at the time, enough for him.

"I thought, 'Well, this is not bad because it's good stuff. I can run good and I can be content,'" Green said. "I was OK with it. When you're not expecting it, you get another opportunity."

The other opportunity came almost by chance. ML Motorsports was testing the waters in NASCAR's No. 2 series and needed a spotter for young driver Justin Diercks.

Jason Jarrett, who has driven some ARCA races for the Indiana-based team, suggested Green.

"Jason and I are good buddies, and he knew these guys," Green said. "'Hey they need a spotter. Would you help them out?'"

Green agreed, spotting for Diercks in a handful of races last year. But the team wasn't progressing, so owner Mary Louise Miller asked Green to test her car at Charlotte.

"I had almost come to the point where I'm just going to test," Green said. "I don't have any good opportunities to drive. I'm not going to drive junk anymore. It's not worth it."

But Green took a shot with ML, and nearly a year later, he's happy he did. ML Motorsports is a small part-time team, but Green showed earlier this year a small team can still perform in the Nationwide Series.

At Talladega, Green ran well in the No. 70 Chevrolet, avoiding the multicar crashes and running in the top 10 before coming home fifth. That was Green's best finish in the series since 1997, when he was fifth at Charlotte.

One race later, Green was fast in practice at Richmond and qualified a strong fourth. Though he finished 22nd, the team's performance opened some eyes.

"We're using common sense," Green said. "We've got a small group of guys, and they work very good together. We're not quite there, but we're Light years ahead of where we were last year."

Brian Ross, a Late Model driver on the short tracks in Indiana, serves as the crew chief. He's helped out by NASCAR veteran Skip Eyler.

"We've got the best of both worlds there with those two guys working together," Green said. "Richmond was a perfect example. I heard Kasey Kahne say on his interview before qualifying, 'Well, we were second-quickest. But the guy that was quickest did it early and he probably won't be that good.'

"Well, I wanted to go over there after qualifying, 'If I would've had just a little bit better run, I'd bust your ass.' But you can't do that."

That's about as boastful as anyone in the Green family will ever be, but the point was made: Mark Green still wants to prove he is a talented race-car driver.

And he is, older brother David said.

"Richmond showed even more what they're about," David said. "I've always said that Mark never got the shot that Jeff and I got. Mark was the best driver early on. He deserves the opportunity that Jeff and I got. ... He's a very good driver. That whole team has really rallied around him because he takes care of their equipment and gives them good feedback."

There is a skip in Mark's step that hasn't been there for a few years, David said. David recently crashed at Lowe's Motor Speedway during a Nationwide test, and Mark jokingly asked David if he was getting too old.

David is a year older than Mark, by the way.

Age has nothing to do with it, Mark says now. It's all about getting the car handling well and the team performing the best it can.

And the driver needs to have desire.

"I still want to do it," Green said. "People always look at ages. But to me, if you have the fire and the talent and you want to do it, age doesn't matter. You're sitting in a chair turning a steering wheel."

Mentioned Drivers: Mark Green

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