Wed, 22 Jul 2026, 16:20 PM Early Exits for Chad & Hunter Green Sunday at NHRA Sonoma Nationals

Courtesy of Tom Blattler, TB Communications Now Head to Seattle for Popular Northwest Nationals Drag Races

Short day for the Greens at Sonoma, Prepared for Seattle NHRA Round

• The father-son Funny Car racing pair of Chad and Hunter Green were ready for a long day at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals Sunday, but unfortunately the day was very short for them

• After both Texas racers had solid qualifying performances, the Greens suffered first round losses despite excellent first-round runs, but their nitro-burning machines were defeated

• C. Green, the No. 5 qualifier, posted a 3.981-second pass against veteran Paul Lee, but Lee's 3.937 run was too much for Green to overcome at Sonoma Raceway in the first round

• H. Green's had a tough chore to go up against young Daniel Wilkerson in the opening round of eliminations Sunday, but an early redlight ended his eliminations in first round

Chad and Hunter Green

Sonoma, Calif. (July 20, 2026) - Chad and Hunter Green, the only father-son duo in the NHRA nitro drag racing classes, came out of qualifying with high hopes to score a strong finish in Sunday's DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at a sold-out Sonoma Raceway.

Unfortunately for the Midland, Tex., drivers, the race day was much shorter than they had anticipated with first round losses in eliminations despite running sub four-second passes at the quick Sonoma racing facility.

Chad Green

C. Green, the two-time 2026 NHRA national event winner in the CGM bproauto Ford Mustang, posted a solid No. 5 position in qualifying with a 3.903-second run at 321.12 miles per hour and held the lane choice against veteran Paul Lee in the first round of competition on Sunday.

But Green's 3.981 run was not enough to get by Lee's 3.937, and it was an early exit for the Gatornationals and Route 66 Nationals race winner.

"The race car didn't run as well as we thought in that first round," said C. Green. "Our car had been good in qualifying with a 3.90, 3.95 and 3.97 and we had it ready for eliminations. But something happened to fall off our time against Paul. We'll look at what happened and get everything ready for the Seattle race (Northwest National this weekend - July 24-26)."

Hunter Green

Green's son, Hunter, a part time Funny Car racer, returned to action at Sonoma after two months off with veteran Blake Alexander driving the CGM second Funny Car. But H. Green ran consistently during qualifying and his CGM Bond-Coat Dodge//SRT Hellcat was set to battle young Daniel Wilkerson in the first round.

However, for first time in NHRA Funny Car competition, H. Green was a little too ready for the green light and left the starting too soon for a red-light despite his impressive 3.980 pass. Wilkerson, the race finalist, advance to the quarterfinals with a strong 3.945 against Green.

"Well, I have now made 100 Funny Car runs and that was my first red-light," H. Green said. "I knew I needed to be quick off the starting line against Daniel. His car has been running well, and I thought all day about getting a quick reaction time. But I was just a little too quick. Overall, our car is getting better, and I think we'll see Blake in a contending position at Seattle this weekend."

Chad Green and Alexander, in the Pronto Auto Services Dodge//SRT Hellcat, will be in the CGM Funny Car lineup this weekend (July 24-26) at the Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Nitro qualifying begins on Friday (July 24) at 2:30 p.m. PDT and 5 p.m. PDT. Saturday's (July 24) qualifying is scheduled at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. PDT, with final eliminations on Sunday (July 26) at 10 a.m. PDT. The FOX national network telecast will be shown with Sunday's eliminations at 4 p.m./ EDT/1 p.m. PDT.

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