Hunter Green, only in his fourth NHRA national event in nitro-burning Funny Car for the father-son team at Chad Green Motorsports, pulled off a big upset in the first round of eliminations Sunday at the American Rebel Light Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park with 90-plus degree heat.
The 30-year-old racer from Midland, Texas, drove the Pronto Auto Service Centers Dodge Hellcat to an opening round win over four-time NHRA Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan of Tony Stewart Racing. Hunter took the margin off the starting line and held the advantage to the finish with a 4.064-second clocking to Hagan’s 4.088.
In the quarterfinals, Hunter recorded another starting line jump against another former world champion, J.R. Todd, and he took the lead at the start again before an engine issue cost him a possible victory. Todd took the win with 4.075 to Green’s slowing 4.151.
“The conditions were pretty brutal with over 90 degrees and a track surface over 130 degrees,” said H. Green. “But I was ready against those two heavy hitters in Matt and J.R. I got the starting line advantage in both races. Against Matt, I wasn’t sure if I had won. I knew it was close as the engine died at 900 feet. But it felt great to get a big win against driver like Matt.
“Then in the race with J.R., I was running well, but I saw a flash of flame and smoke in the cockpit, so I shut off the engine. I didn’t want a big blowup and a fire. Racing in those track conditions were tough, but the car ran well all weekend. I’m looking forward to driving at Norwalk now.”
Hunter’s father, Chad, the 2025 NHRA Gatornationals champion, has had some tough luck lately with his CGM Bond-Coat Ford Mustang Funny Car, with several close losses, just a few inches from victory. And Sunday’s first round action with former world champion Ron Capps kept up the recent trend for Chad.
In a great heads-up battle, Capps nipped C. Green with a 4.032 to a 4.047.
“We have had some very close races lately, and we are just on the wrong side of good drag races,” said C. Green. “With the hot weather and track surface, it was a challenge for all of the nitro teams at Richmond. We are anxious to go to Norwalk this weekend after Hunter’s good performance this past weekend. Despite his limited experience in a nitro Funny Car, we feel he is doing a great job behind the wheel. These cars are not easy to drive. I can tell you that from experience.”
The two Chad Green Motorsports Funny Car drivers will be back in competition this weekend (June 27-29) at the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. Nitro action begins Friday, June 27, with qualifying sessions at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. EDT. Saturday’s qualifying runs will be at 12 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., with final eliminations scheduled for 11 a.m. EDT on Sunday, June 29.
The NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals at the Summit Motorsports Park will be televised this Sunday at 2 p.m. EDT on the FOX Network.
This story was originally published on June 24, 2025. 
