There are plenty of family racing teams in drag racing, but Chad and Hunter Green bring a little extra intrigue to the 72nd annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The father-and-son duo will both compete in Funny Car for Chad Green Motorsports, with two CGM Bond-Coat entries prepared for the biggest race of the year. Chad enters Indy fighting for position in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series championship standings, while Hunter returns to a facility where he already owns one of the biggest wins of his career.
The goal for both is the same: survive a stacked qualifying field, get into Monday eliminations, and make a serious run at the U.S. Nationals Wally.
CGM Comes To Indy After A Strong Test
Chad Green Motorsports has been busy at its Brownsburg, Indiana, headquarters getting both Funny Cars ready for the Big Go. The Joe Serena and Dean Marinis-led operation also tested at Indianapolis Raceway Park two weeks before the U.S. Nationals, giving the team an opportunity to evaluate new parts and combinations before one of the toughest qualifying battles of the season.
Chad Green believes that work has the team pointed in the right direction.
“We had a really good test at IRP a few weeks ago and we feel that it sets us up for a strong run at the U.S. Nationals,” said C. Green., a four-time NHRA career national winner. “The summer months haven’t been the most successful after the two wins at Gainesville and Chicago, but we feel good about our setups for the Indy race.
“Of course, it is always fun to race with Hunter, and he is back in the Dodge Hellcat this weekend. I know he is very excited to be racing at Indy again after his 2024 win there in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. I hope we both can have a successful weekend, but I can’t let him beat me again. We need the points towards the championship.”
Chad Green Still Has A Championship To Chase
Chad enters Indianapolis seventh in the Funny Car standings and has already collected two national event victories this season. He won the season-opening Gatornationals in Florida and followed that with another victory at the Route 66 Nationals outside Chicago.
The summer portion of the schedule hasn’t produced the same results, but the U.S. Nationals gives Green one of the best opportunities of the season to turn that around.
Indy is the 14th event of the 20-race tour and comes at a critical point in the championship battle. With the postseason approaching, every round win matters, and Chad knows a strong result at the Big Go could help put his program in a better position for the final stretch.
Hunter Green Returns To A Track With Good Memories
Hunter Green already knows what it feels like to win at Indianapolis Raceway Park. In 2024, he captured the Top Alcohol Dragster title at the U.S. Nationals, the biggest victory of his career to this point. A year later, CGM expanded to a second Funny Car entry, giving Hunter the opportunity to begin building his professional nitro career.
Now he returns to Indy chasing something even bigger: his first NHRA Funny Car victory.
“I’ll be honest, that 2024 U.S. Nationals win has been the biggest of my racing career, but a Funny Car victory at Indy would top that one easily,” H. Green said. “There is a huge Funny Car class this year with 24 drivers going for 16 starting spots in the final eliminations. That puts pressure on every driver and team to just get in the field. And then you need to get four ‘win’ lights on Monday for that U.S. Nationals trophy. I hope we can get to that final round.”
Hunter Already Owns Bragging Rights Over Dad
There’s also a little family competition mixed into the weekend. Earlier this season, Hunter defeated Chad at the Southern Nationals and advanced to the semifinals.
Chad hasn’t forgotten. His comment that he “can’t let him beat me again” adds another entertaining layer to the father-son dynamic.
Naturally, both drivers want the other to succeed. But if they happen to line up against each other at Indy, neither one is going to give an inch. That’s especially true with Chad chasing championship points and Hunter chasing his first professional win.
There’s a long road between Friday qualifying and that scenario, especially with 24 Funny Cars fighting for 16 spots. But that’s why teams show up to Indy. Chad Green wants another major victory and valuable championship points. Hunter Green wants to add a professional Funny Car Wally to his 2024 Indy Sportsman win. And if the two end up staring at each other across the starting line on Labor Day Monday, the Green family will have already had one heck of a U.S. Nationals.
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