CHAD GREEN |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WHILE GREEN IS LICENSED TO COMPETE IN A
NUMBER OF OTHER CATEGORIES, INCLUDING NITRO
FUNNY CAR, HE’S ENJOYING HIS TIME IN THE ULTRA-
COMPETITIVE NHRA PRO MOD SCENE AND DOESN’T
FORESEE A MOVE TO NITRO IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
“I just want to drive as much as I can, and I’ll drive anything to get
more experience.” ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
to learn and make laps. I did that for a couple of
years and got some experienced, but we struggled
with the car because it wasn’t very good.
Finally, I decided to get more serious about it
and got a Jerry Bickel car. By that time, I realized
I really wanted to go NHRA racing. The PDRA
didn’t fit me – I’m from Texas, and (PDRA) was all
on the East Coast. So, I decided to get the car and
run a year of Comp Eliminator to get my grade
points and some experience. Again, we were just
out there making laps and not worrying about
winning, and again it just progressed from there.
It hasn’t been an easy road. You’ve had
some mishaps on the track, but you always
seem to rebound really quickly. How do
you bounce back? You seem very difficult
to fluster.
I think being that way helps me. It’s just my
personality, and in all of those instances, I un-
derstood what happened and what caused it. I
learned from it. I said, ‘OK, well I won’t do that
again.’ It didn’t make me waver from wanting to
do this one bit.
You also have your NHRA nitro Funny
Car license. How does that fit into your
future goals?
I would love to race a nitro Funny Car. I’ve always
loved them. I never had that intention, but I went
to Frank Hawley’s for (alcohol) Funny Car, and
I did really good. When I got my alcohol Funny
Car license, Frank told me, ‘I’m not bullshitting
you, you can drive. If anyone ever wants you to
drive their Funny Car, you tell them to call me.’
That gave me confidence.
You licensed in Tim Wilkerson’s nitro
Funny Car?
Yes, when the opportunity came up, I took it.
I just want to drive as much as I can, and I’ll
drive anything to get more experience. I have
my license, and I have some long-term goals,
but nothing in the making right now. I’m work-
ing with someone putting together sponsorship
deals for the Pro Mod car, but if we have the right
sponsor and the right money, we would like to
do (Funny Car), too. I would love to do it, but
it would have to come together. I can’t fund a
Funny Car team. Even this is a struggle, so I’m
trying to get some sponsors.
What’s it like for you inside the race car?
I remember when I drove my first Pro Mod, and
even the Funny Car at that time, I’d make a pass and
my hands would literally be shaking. That doesn’t
happen anymore, but the feeling is still there. You
get that adrenaline rush. When you’re in there, you
don’t think about anything else. You’re in the mo-
ment. But leading up to that, it’s one of those things
where you want to do it, but you don’t want to do it.
You’re nervous for the time when you have to get in
the car, even though you want to. It’s probably a lot
like bungee jumping off a cliff. It’s like, ‘I get to go
drive Tim’s Funny Car, and I can’t wait to get there.’
Then you get there, and you’re not quite ready. You
don’t mind if they take a little longer preparing it.
What do you love about drag racing?
A lot. I like cars. I like going fast. I like the people.
I like NHRA. I’ve raced a few different organiza-
tions, and NHRA is the best. This is where I’m
going to be, no matter what class.
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106 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 146