Some drag racing observers – and competitors for that matter – may have been overlooking NHRA nitro Funny Car owner/driver Chad Green.
Well, the Midland, Texas, native is doing his best to change people’s opinion of his talent – with his results.
Green won for the second time in six 2026 races, capturing the title at the 26th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance on Sunday.
Green clocked a 3.945-second elapsed time at 324.75 mph to edge Alexis DeJoria’s 3.965-second run at 328.86.
“The whole team aspect of this sport doesn’t get enough recognition. I mean, this is 100% a team sport, just like football, basketball, or any of those other sports,” Green said. “The drivers, they get a lot of the fame and glory. But to be honest, I mean, what these guys do is just incredible. To go out there and turn on four win lights on a Sunday, it’s so difficult. These guys, they have to do everything perfect every round. And we got to go out there and beat the best guys out there doing it. So, can’t say enough about the team, and I got to give it to them.”
Green is now fourth in the season points standings and trails leader Ron Capps by a mere 25 points.
On Sunday, Green, who qualified No. 7, knocked off recent winner Jordan Vandergriff, and past NHRA champions Capps and Austin Prock before edging DeJoria by 13 feet.
“We didn’t have easy matchups today, that’s for sure. I mean, to qualify No. 7 and end up having Jordan in the first round, that was a little bit of a bummer, I have to say,” Green said. “But he’s beaten me a couple of times this year, and I owed him one. So, we got it done today. And the second round, ‘Wow, that was our round.’ We got lucky right there. Did a good job pedaling the car. Looked like Capps did a good job, too. And his car just shut off a little bit before mine. Mine actually didn’t make it to the finish line. I was like, I hit the gas, and it was going. I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t see you running. I’m going to win this thing.’ And all of a sudden, my car died. Pan-pressure switch set it off. And I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, please don’t come blowing by me.’ But luckily, we got done.”
When he arrived in the staging lanes to take on Prock, Green wasn’t taking anything for granted. Prock, the reigning two-time NHRA Funny Car champion, switched from John Force Racing to Bob Tasca in the offseason, and he had not won a round this season before the Chicago race.
“Austin, their car is definitely coming around. And we didn’t take that lightly. We were concerned, and we went up there loaded for bear,” Green said.
In the semis, Green clocked a 3.969-second lap at 323.66 mph to defeat Prock’s 4.015, 323.43.
That set up his race with DeJoria, someone he has become familiar with in the finals this year.
Against a star-studded nitro Funny Car field that included multiple NHRA champions, unheralded Chad Green walked away as the champion at the 2026 season-opening AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
Green clocked a 3.959-second elapsed time at 329.91 mph to muscle past DeJoria’s 5.003, 167.59 in the final round at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.
“That was a repeat from Gainesville. And I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m so worried. Is she going to get me back?’ And she’s driving a John Force car, and those cars, they get … that was a dang good race. I never saw her during the race. I thought, when the win light came on, I thought, ‘Oh, she probably had problems or something.’ But then I looked at the time slip, and, man, she was right there with me. She even had a good light, left right there with me. So it was a very close race, a good championship drag race right there.”
In addition to winning the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., in 2025 and ’26, Green also won the 2023 season finale over Tim Wilkerson in Pomona, Calif. This was Green’s sixth trip to the final round. He improved his season elimination-round record to 12-4.
“Last year when we won Gainesville, after that race, we really stumbled. We stumbled through the mid part of the season, and we really didn’t get our car to come back around and respond until it was the Countdown [to The Championship, the final six races of the season]. And the Countdown, our car actually came back and was really good – and this year’s kind of been a continuation of that.
“But it was our goal this year after we won Gainesville. It was like, ‘Let’s do not let the same thing happen again this year. We can’t go out there and fall on our face after a win.’ So, we’ve been trying really hard, and this is testament to that.”
With 14 races left in the season, Green likes where his team is after six events and moving forward.
“I think our car is in a good spot right now. We’ve had a good car for several races. We haven’t had the best luck go against us, but we’ve had a good car. We’ve qualified well in every race. This race, we actually didn’t qualify as good as we have been. But no, I’m feeling really good about the car. I’m feeling really good about the team.”
