Courtesy of the NHRA
INDIANAPOLIS – Chad Green will have the chance to do something unique at this weekend’s prestigious DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, and that’s win twice in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service.
Not only is Green trying to win the biggest race of the season on drag racing’s grandest stage, Green and Jason Scruggs will face off in the final round of the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals, which will also be completed this weekend. That final will take place as part of Saturday’s final qualifying session, putting either Green or Scruggs in line to win their first career NHRA Pro Mod race.
“I’m definitely looking forward to it and we can’t wait for this weekend,” Green said. “We’re ready to go racing and having a chance to run this final on Saturday, it just really adds to the excitement. I feel like we’ve got a really good car and it’s running really well right now, so we’ve got expectations that the car is going to perform on a high level. We’ve gone through everything and it’s all ready to go.”
The race, which is presented by ATI ProCharger, is the third event of the 2020 E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series season and will be shown on Fox Sports 2 (FS2). Jonathan Gray has the lone win this season, but two winners will be crowned with another loaded competitor list ready for action at the Big Go.
Green and Scruggs have a chance for a truly historic weekend, and both are eager to try and break through for the first time. While it’s the first final round for Scruggs, it marks Green’s third final round in a career that spans just 23 races. He’s become a standout in short time in his nitrous-powered Bond-Coat Corvette, and he has impressed during the first two races of 2020.
The start of the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series was delayed to July due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Green and his team were ready, making nearly 50 test runs leading up to the opener. That has paid off with a number of consistent runs and Green is hopeful it can translate into at least one win this weekend.
“We’re pretty confident right now and we’ve definitely had a lot of consistency,” Green said. “During the time off we tried a lot of different things. After all that data we collected, we made the decision on how we want to run the car and since that first testing day in Indy (in July), the car has gone down the track every time. We want to keep that rolling.”
That’s the plan for Green, but he’ll have to ward off challenges at every turn, starting with Scruggs in the Summernationals final round. With drag racing’s biggest crown on the line in the form of a U.S. Nationals victory, the stakes are raised considerably and Green will have to ward off challenges from the likes of Gray, points leader Kris Thorne, defending world champ Stevie “Fast” Jackson, defending U.S. Nationals winner Mike Castellana, former world champs Khalid AlBalooshi and Mike Janis, and Todd Tutterow.
“We’ve been running well and now we just have to go out and perform,” Green said. “We’re going with the expectations of trying to bring back two trophies, so it’s pretty awesome. It would definitely be special to get a win this weekend.”
ATI ProCharger is the presenting sponsor for the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series race, as the class looks to have a memorable weekend at the Big Go. For more than 25 years, ATI ProCharger has been regarded as the industry’s leading supercharger manufacturer, and its presence has been noticeable already during the 2020 NHRA Pro Mod season.
Starting this year, the centrifugal supercharger was permitted into NHRA Pro Mod competition, and the powerful and reliable power adder has impressed. AlBalooshi has qualified No. 1 at both events with a ProCharger, while Thorne has grabbed the points lead with back-to-back semifinal appearances. Other top drivers relying on the supercharger combination in 2020 include Clint Satterfield and several others.
Featuring the world’s fastest doorslammer race cars, the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service offers something for every kind of hot-rodding enthusiast. The class is highlighted by historic muscle cars, like ’67 Mustangs, ’68 Firebirds and ’69 Camaros, as well as a variety of late model American muscle cars.
The first of two E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service qualifying sessions takes place at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, with the final session taking place at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The first round of Pro Mod eliminations are scheduled for 11:40 a.m. on Sunday.
A limited number of tickets are on sale now to the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals. Tickets may be purchased by visiting NHRA.com or calling 800-884-NHRA.
