In drag racing, you can win or lose a race on the starting line, and the Canadian driver for Head Racing and Hyde Construction, Spencer Hyde, proved that this weekend at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

As the current leader in the 2025 NHRA Rookie of the Year contest, Hyde has been putting a lot of emphasis on improving and maintaining consistency with his reaction times. This paid off with an early first round win against Alexis DeJoria but ultimately cost him in the quarterfinals against Chad Green. 

“Alexis has a great team. Zippy [Mike Neff] knows what he is doing, he’s been out here a long time, and he knows how to make that hotrod go fast,” said Hyde, at the top end after his holeshot first round win. “But Jim [Head] and Dave [Leahy] and the boys gave me a good car and I can finally say that the driver did his job and left on time and got us a round win there. We’ll take that, build on it and hopefully get it done again.”

Ahead of race day, Hyde’s best pass at the Brainerd drag strip came during the second round of qualifying, with a 3.942 second, 302.62 mph run. In a highly competitive field, this was enough to put him in the No. 11 spot on race day. His first-round matchup was against No. 6 qualifier Alexis DeJoria. This was the second race in a row where these two lined up against each other in the first round. Hyde left on DeJoria, winning the race on a holeshot, his first in competition. 

“We got a nice win in the first round,” said Hyde. “I have a great race car and Jim has previously run very well here. I am getting comfortable in this Head Inc. and Hyde Construction Funny Car and this is a good time of the season to start building your confidence.” 

In the second round, Hyde faced Chad Green, who was still riding the high of beating his son, Hunter Green in round one. Green was off the starting line first, and despite Hyde having the quicker and faster car, Hyde fell to Green’s holeshot win. 

“My reaction time for that round was pretty consistent with what I had been doing all weekend,” said Hyde. “I am tough on myself, but I am also working hard to continue to improve. It is a process, and I think we are moving in the right direction.” With one race left in the regular Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, Hyde will stay No. 8 in points. Less than 150 points separates him from the upper half of the Top 10, and with the opportunity to earn points and a half at the U.S. Nationals, Hyde has the chance to put himself in a very strong position at the start of the Countdown. “We have a little bit of a break before the U.S. Nationals,” said Hyde. “This weekend I learned a lot since we had some cooler conditions yesterday and today. I think we will be tough in Indy and beyond.” 

Hyde and the Head Racing team will be back in competition in two weeks at the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals on August 27-September 1 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Posted by Elon Werner
Photo Courtesy of Creative Exports