They say history tends to repeat itself and in the case of 2000 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Jeff Green, the 2017 season will sort of have a throwback feel for him.
Green did an interview with Clayton Caldwell and Zach Roethlisberger from the Talking in Circles podcast and revealed his plans for the upcoming 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series season.
“B.J. McLeod, I’m gonna drive for them,” Green stated on the podcast. “B.J.’s working hard on sponsorship’s and he says we’re racing if we have one or not so that’s a bonus!”
It’s a refreshing change for the 53-year old driver who has been relegated to starting and parking the last few seasons.
“This year we’re going to run all 33 races,” said Green. “We’ll be a new car so the first three races we’ll have to make to try and get established in the points to try and go on the rest of the season. I’m just proud of all the guys at B.J. McLeod Motorsports to give me the opportunity.”
Green returns to full-time XFINITY Series competition and will run all the races for the first time since 2001. He will drive the No. 8 car for B.J. McLeod Motorsports. The number is a throwback for the native of Owensboro, Kentucky. He won his first career NASCAR XFINITY race driving a No. 8 Chevrolet for Gary Bechtel at Las Vegas in 1997.
“Yeah, how about that?” Green stated when referring to the number change. “It was going to be the number 99 but B.J. was able to get the number 8 so that’s pretty cool.”
B.J. McLeod Motorsports will enter its second year of competition in 2017. The team will run two full-time operations with a third car on a part-time basis.
Green began his XFINITY career in 1990 and has scored 16 victories, 23 pole positions and 87 top-10 finishes in 449 career starts.
The youngest of the racing Green brothers had a career year in 2000 driving for PPC racing winning seven poles, six victories and 25 top-five finishes.
“I’m just looking forward to it,” Green admitted. “B.J.’s team is growing, he wants he wants to be here long term and hopefully he can. I hope I’ll have a part in helping him doing that.”
The XFINITY Series opens the 2017 season with the Powershares QQQ 300 at Daytona on Saturday, February 25th.
congradulations , good luck , i got someone to root for again