NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

After missing the Epping, Sonoma and Seattle events, Chad Green finds himself in a precarious position as he looks to make the Countdown to the Championship playoffs for the first time. Green, enjoying a successful season behind the wheel of his Bond Coat Mustang, comes into the Brainerd event in 11th place in the Camping World standings but he’s just 18 points behind tenth-ranked Jim Campbell. Basically, Green needs to advance at least one more round than Campbell in other Brainerd or Indy, so that’s his primary goal.

“We put ourselves in a spot, but I think we’re in pretty good shape to do it,” said Green. “I hated to miss those races but we looked at our parts inventory and realized that we’d be stretching it if we went to every race so we decided to skip a couple which turned out to be Sonoma and Seattle. That wasn’t ideal because I have to race my way into the Countdown now.

“The way I see it, I need to win maybe two or three rounds between here [Brainerd] and Indy to make sure we get in,” Green said. “Its tough because they [Campbell] are running pretty good right now so that might make the job a bit harder. We’re up for the challenge, though.”

In his first full season in the class, Green has performed well. He’s struggled at times during qualifying with just one start in the top eight, but on race day, he’s not one to be taken lightly. Green reached the semifinals in both Gainesville and Houston. Green has also handed leader Robert Hight two of his eight losses this season so he’s clearly not afraid to go up against the best racers in the class.

Lately, Green has struggled a bit, and Wilkerson is working hard to find the issue. The team arrived in Brainerd with a new engine combination to go with a new look as their Mustang body is now carrying the colors of BP.

“We’re trying a new camshaft and a few other things, and we just need some runs in order to get it figured out,” said crew chief Daniel Wilkerson, who along with his father, Tim, have bene a key component in Green’s success this season. “We just need to find a way to run a little better and we need to do it soon.”