Green eyes turnaround at Darlington.

Ranked 39th in the Winston Cup championship point standings, America Online driver Jeff Green is intent on getting the team back on track this weekend during the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway.

A slow start to the 2003 Winston Cup season has left Green and the AOL team behind and, although its still early in the season, they know some good finishes in the next couple of weeks could have them climbing back up the charts.

"We've had luck this season, it's just all been bad," said Green, who even grew a goatee in hope of changing things around, "Who would have thought we'd have tyre problems in the first three races. [Crew chief] Mike [Beam] and I said we didn't have that many flat tyres in five years of racing. I even got a flat last week when I was in Montana with Richard [Childress]. It's amazing. Winning the pole at Daytona has been our only highlight so far this season."

Adding to Green's woes, an ill-handling Monte Carlo this past weekend in Atlanta placed him 25th at the end of the race and, although it was his best finish of the season, it's certainly not the finish the team had hoped for.

"We tried every combination that I could think of to get some grip on the car," said Beam, who joined the RCR in December, "No matter what we did, it didn't seem to help. It was very frustrating for us all. Jeff runs well at Darlington, so we're hoping this is our weekend to get headed in the right direction."

Darlington is one place that both Green and Beam feel their luck could improve. Beam has taken drivers to four pole positions with one win, while Green has also performed well around the 1.366mile oval. In his five Winston Cup starts on the egg-shaped oval, Green's best performance was the twelfth-place finish posted last autumn. His Busch Series efforts, though, have proven more successful, with a victory in 2001 along with six consecutive top-ten finishes.

"We had a lug nut problem in the first Darlington race that put us behind, but the AOL Chevy ran great," said Green, who finished 25th in last year's 400-mile race, "It was the second race where we really pulled together and fought for our finish. The AOL team has the capability and desire to get things going in the right direction.

"There's no more tomorrow, being this far back in points starts to make you nervous about provisionals. I know we can make the races on speed, but the weather may not always co-operate and that's our challenge.

"I enjoy racing at Darlington because it challenges the driver. You've got to be real careful not to get that strip on the side of your car, but that actually motivated me more during the fall race. When the driver messes up, it makes him work that much harder, and that's exactly what happened when I hit the wall coming off turn two."

Whatever it takes, whether it's growing a goatee or using a new Hutchins device, you can bet that Jeff Green will try just about anything to change the luck from bad to good this weekend at Darlington.