In the realm of storybook endings, the events that unfolded in the Funny Car category on Sunday in historic Pomona, California, surpassed even the most imaginative tales.

A narrative emerged where a crew chief son triumphed over his nitro-piloting father and another family collected a dream-like father-and-son double-up. The afternoon was rife with upsets, with not a single championship contender advancing past the initial two rounds.

As the day concluded, it was Chad Green who emerged as the last competitor standing, clinching his maiden victory in the Funny Car category in his 50th start at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.

Green joined his son, Hunter, in victory lane when he won the Top Alcohol Dragster division earlier in the day. In the other major storyline, Green’s crew chief Daniel Wilkerson, son of Funny Car pilot Tim Wilkerson, emerged victorious over his father in the Funny Car final.

It was a topsy-turvy finish to a wild day of racing that saw Matt Hagan emerge as the 2023 NHRA Funny Car world champion. But it was Green who ultimately stole the show with his heartwarming victory.

“It’s just been an amazing weekend,” Green said. “First off, this has been a dream season for us. We’ve done so good all year long and I couldn’t be more proud of my guys. They’ve really come a long way in the last few years and they’ve stuck with me and we’ve been trying all year to get this Wally. We’ve been close a few times and I couldn’t think of a better way to top off the season than winning at the last race. And to get a win with my son, I don’t know if that’ll ever happen again. I just can’t say enough about our season.”

Green defeated Wilkerson on a holeshot to conclude the final race of the 2023 NHRA season. Green got away first with a .033-second reaction time and that made all the difference as the Daniel Wilkerson-tuned Bond-Coat Ford Mustang crossed the 1,000-foot stripe with a time of 3.916 seconds at 328.54 mph.

Tim Wilkerson finished runner-up in his Scag Power Equipment/Levi Ray Shoup Ford Mustang for the second time this season with a quicker 3.900 at 327.59 mph.

“You could have never drawn it up like this,” Green said. “As the day went on and I saw Hunter progress through the rounds and saw what was happening with us and saw some of the big dogs go out, I was like, ‘Yeah, we really got a chance to win this thing.’ But to tell you the truth, I’ve had a good feeling about this race all week. We came into it and I just had that feeling and it all came together.”

In addition to earning his first career win, Green actually played a major role in shaping the 2023 Funny Car championship.

 

 

After defeating J.R. Todd in round one, Green found himself up against championship hopeful Robert Hight in a pivotal second-round match. After both Hagan and Bob Tasca III had already been upset earlier in the session, Hight needed to win to extend his championship hopes, but lost traction early and had to abort the run. Green, meanwhile, powered to a 3.971 at 322.11 to advance.

With all three championship hopefuls losing in the round, the title went to Hagan who entered Sunday a few points ahead of his rivals.

“Looking at it from our side, it is a chance to win,” Green said. “I was strapped in there about to roll up to the water box when Hagan was doing his interview after his loss and I came on the microphone with my crew and I said, ‘Hey, guys, we can go save this right now.’ So we did.”

Green tacked on a win over Blake Alexander in the semis, getting away first and holding off the hard-charging young driver with a 3.961 at 325.45 to Alexander’s 3.960 at 317.34.

Wilkerson had round wins over defending champion Ron Capps, John Force, and defending NHRA Finals winner Cruz Pedregon to reach his fourth final round of the year.

On a day in which whoever went the farthest won the championship between Hagan, Hight and Tasca, it was ironic that a class that touts being the most competitive consisted of four non- contenders in its final four.

After the upset-filled second round, Hagan found Green and planted a kiss on him as a thank you for helping him secure his fourth world title and his first behind the wheel of his Tony Stewart Racing-backed Dodge Power Brokers machine.

“I had to stand there and watch someone go out to win a championship and that is just not how I want to win one,” Hagan said. “But it is really about the body of work that we did all year. Coming in here and being ahead in points, to have that opportunity where if they went out in the same round we win the championship. I just can’t say enough about Dickie Venables, Mike Knudsen, Alex Conaway and every single one of the guys that wrench on my car. Tony Stewart, to get his first championship in his second year out here in NHRA, is unbelievable. It speaks volumes to the group that he has assembled and the leader he is.

“I jumped in the car with Chad Green and I told him, ‘Flip your visor up because I’m going to kiss you on the lips.’ Chad has always been up there at the starting line behind me whenever we aren’t racing each other and I reached out to him last week and I said, ‘I see it, and I appreciate it.’ It goes a long way with that family atmosphere that we bring to the table.”

While Green’s win was his first in a Funny Car, it wasn’t his first national-event win. He also possesses a Wally in Pro Modified, joining a short list of drivers to earn wins in both disciplines.

 

 

 

“I have high expectations for myself and my team,” Green said. “We come out here and we want to win. We don’t want to just come out here and drive a Funny Car. That’s not what we’re about. We started right off the bat in Gainesville going to the semis and that really helped propel us and every round win we got after that it was just like a snowball effect. Just a couple of years ago when we would roll up in the lanes, people would look at us like we’re just another team. But now I see my guys, when they pull up in the lanes they get all the respect from the other teams and that’s cool to see.”

Green earned his first three final-round visits all this season, adding runner-up finishes in Sonoma and Reading in a five-race span that saw him fighting consistently among the giants in the class. Ironically, the two drivers that defeated Green in those final round losses -- Todd and Hight -- Green defeated Sunday to earn that first win.

“This season has been a dream season,” Green said. “No matter what happened today, it’s been an awesome year and I think we surprised a lot of people. And to cap it off with a win, that’s awesome. My team, we mean business. Anytime we tow our car to the line we mean business. And I think we’ve shown that this year.” As the season concludes, Green gets a few months to enjoy being the sport’s most recent race winner as he prepares to build on a strong year and perhaps reach for bigger things in 2024.

“I ran my first Funny Car race four years ago. We ran two races and I’ve had the same core group of guys with me since then,” Green said. “We’ve run 50 races and I've got a bunch of bad dudes on my team. They all have confidence in me and I have all the confidence in them.

“We’re still growing as a team, but you haven’t seen the best of this team yet. We still have room to grow and I’ve got big plans for next year.”