It was a quick and consistent weekend for Spencer Hyde, the Canadian driver for Head Racing.

He added a second final round and highest ever qualifying position to his already stacked NHRA Rookie of the Year resume at the Denso Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway. In addition to the final round and No. 2 qualifier, Hyde also set a new personal best for speed and accrued bonus points during qualifying. 

“We had one of the greatest weekends that we could’ve had,” said Hyde. “We made seven really good runs, the most of any other Funny Car out here. We were quickest ET in the second round and Q4, and only smoked the tires once. That’s really awesome.” 

During qualifying, all four of Hyde’s runs were strong passes, with his best run coming during the second round of qualifying, a 3.865 second, 333.58 mph pass. This run was a new personal best for speed, and is what pushed him to No. 2 qualifier, the highest he has ever qualified for race day. Hyde’s runs during the second and third rounds of qualifying were the second quickest of the round, earning him two bonus points each. During the fourth and final round of qualifying his 3.882 second, 327.98 mph pass was the quickest of the round, the only pass made in the 3.8’s and earned him three bonus points. His seven bonus points total was the most of any other Funny Car team this weekend.

“Coming into race day I felt really good, knowing the car was in such a great spot,” said Hyde. “I knew if I just continued to do my best as the driver, we had a really good shot at making it far in competition.”

In the first round, Hyde was up against No. 15 qualifier Alexis DeJoria. Even though Hyde had the qualifying advantage, he knew he had to take DeJoria seriously if he had a shot at advancing. The pair was named the Marquee Matchup for Funny Car, which proved to be the right call. DeJoria just barely left on Hyde, but he quickly made up ground and got around her with a 3.870 second, 332.75 mph pass. 

“You never know what Alexis is capable of, so it felt good to get around her,” said Hyde. “This was the first time we’ve ever raced each other during eliminations, and I have a feeling we have many matchups ahead of us.” 

The second round of racing was a redo of the Northwest Nationals semi-finals, where Hyde just barely lost to Ron Capps by one-thousandth of a second, in one of the best side-by-side drag races of the season. This time, Hyde successfully got one over the three-time world champion, with a 3.872 second, 333.00 pass – the quickest of the round. Hyde has now earned eligibility in four Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenges this season, by advancing to at least the semi-finals four times in 12 races. He won his first challenge appearance at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas and is looking for a repeat performance in a few weeks at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. 

“It felt so good to get that win over Ron,” said Hyde. “He’s my hero, but I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder after losing to him in such a close race last weekend. And then he knocked me out of my third Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge yesterday. Now we’ll get to do a redo of that as well in a few weeks in Brainerd.” 

The one and only time this weekend Hyde smoked the tires came during the semifinal round of eliminations. Fortunately, Hyde had a bit of luck on his side. Despite opponent Jack Beckman making it to the finish line first, he crossed the centerline, disqualifying his run, allowing Hyde to advance to the finals. 

“You never want to win that way, but a round win is still a round win,” said Hyde. “I’m just glad Jack only barely crossed the centerline, so nobody came close to being hurt. Skill is important in this sport, but sometimes being lucky is even more important.” 

Reigning Funny Car world champion Austin Prock was Hyde’s last opponent of the day, in what was his second final round appearance of the year. Even though Hyde made a solid 3.956 second, 323.35 mph pass, the points leader brought the heat and pulled out a win with a sporty 3.904 second, 333.82 mph run. 

“You can’t be too upset losing to what I think everybody would consider the best Funny Car team in the world right now. They’re pretty dominant,” said Hyde. “But hey, we’re showing everybody we can hang, so that’s all we can do.” 

If Hyde had won this weekend, he would have become the first Canadian to win a national event in a professional category since Jeff Arend won in Funny Car at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals in July 2012.

He is now looking forward to breaking that streak shortly, with an optimistic outlook for the rest of the season. 

“I have a lot of confidence at this point in the season,” said Hyde. “The last few races have been really good, and I think this is a good time to get hot, going into the Countdown. We want to try and make a run at a championship, and albeit, it’s going to be tough, but we want to be in the mix. We want to be talked about. Jim (Head) and Dave (Leahy) have got a great handle on this car, as they proved this weekend. And I think I’m driving alright. I have to get those lights to be a little bit quicker to keep up with Prock and them guys, but we’re getting there. We’re happy.” 

Hyde and the Head Racing team will be back in competition at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals on August 14-17 at Brainerd International Raceway.

 Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Ten Points – Funny Car

Posted by Elon Werner
Photo Courtesy of NHRA