After the 2000 season, Green was again a championship favorite in the 2001 season after switching to Ford. He eventually caught up to Harvick and, with a win in the Carquest Auto Parts 300, Green took a 14-point lead over Harvick fourteen races into the season. However, he would suffer a 29th and two 31st-place finishes in the next four races, crippling his chances in the points race as he fell to fourth-place, 302 points behind Harvick. Green finished 124 points behind Harvick and earned his second runner-up finish in three seasons. He had seven finishes outside the Top 20 compared to only two the previous season. In all, during his three-year full-time return to the Busch Series, Green had 13 wins and 72 Top 10s — both the most of any driver during that period — and averaged three top-tens in every four races. Later that season Green began driving for Richard Childress Racing part time in the No. 30 America Online-sponsored Chevrolet in Winston Cup (oddly enough as a replacement for Harvick, who was supposed to drive this car before the death of Dale Earnhardt caused him to be promoted to Childress' Winston Cup team much earlier than planned). Green competed in eight races, winning one pole and scoring one top-10 finish. After the season, he left the Busch Series to drive for Childress full time.