The NHRA Countdown to the Championship doesn’t give teams much time to fix problems, especially when the opening three races come on consecutive weekends.
Chad Green believes his CGM team has found the issue that slowed its momentum, and the veteran Funny Car driver heads into the inaugural NHRA Nationals at The Rock at Rockingham Dragway looking to get back to the form that produced two victories earlier this season.
Green and his Bond-Coat Ford Mustang Funny Car already have wins at the NHRA Gatornationals and Route 66 Nationals in 2026. Now, with five races remaining in the championship fight, he wants to add a third Diamond Wally and start making up ground in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series standings.
The first half of Green’s season proved his team has the performance to win races. The Gatornationals victory in March and Route 66 Nationals win in May put Green among the strongest performers in Funny Car early in the year.
Recent events, however, haven’t gone the same way. Green says the CGM team discovered a chassis issue that contributed to its recent struggles and has spent considerable time working to correct it before Rockingham.
“We want to return to the combination we had earlier this year with the wins at Gainesville and Chicago,” said Green. “We found an issue with our car’s chassis in recent races, and we have worked hard to improve on that for Rockingham. We believe we have figured out for the last five races.
“That problem cost us some points in recent races, and we want to get back to winning rounds. It’s important to win the early rounds and gain points when you are racing for the championship. That is our plan for Rockingham and the rest of the season. If we can get the car on a roll, I think we can close in on the leaders with five races left. The Funny Car class is a tough one right now. You can’t take anyone lightly. But our focus is on Rockingham this weekend.”
Green’s comments point to one of the biggest realities of the NHRA Countdown: you can’t afford to give away early rounds.
Once the points reset, every elimination round carries more weight because there are only six races available to decide the championship. Rockingham is race two of that six-event stretch, that means Green needs the Bond-Coat Mustang to start producing round wins now if he wants to stay in the championship conversation.
The NHRA Nationals at The Rock is an inaugural event on the Mission Foods schedule, giving every team another relatively fresh set of circumstances, for Green, that could be exactly what he needs. Five races remain after Rockingham, so Green’s championship hopes are far from over.
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