In just his 12th start in the Funny Car category, Canadian driver Spencer Hyde proved once again that he belongs among drag racing’s elite. At the Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Hyde raced his Head Inc. Funny Car to the second final-round appearance of his rookie season, reaffirming his position as a top contender for NHRA Rookie of the Year honors.
The performance came during one of the most competitive weekends of Funny Car racing this season — and perhaps most impressive is that Hyde did it at Sonoma Raceway, one of the sport’s trickiest and most revered tracks.
“We had one of the greatest weekends that we could’ve had,” Hyde said. “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.”
Hyde’s weekend was nearly flawless from the jump. He qualified second overall — his best starting position yet — thanks to a blistering 3.865-second, 333.58 mph run in the second session. It was a personal best in speed and one of four straight clean qualifying runs. He added seven bonus points to his total across qualifying, the most of any Funny Car team.
Hyde entered eliminations with confidence, and rightfully so. He opened eliminations with a statement win over Alexis DeJoria, then avenged a heartbreaking one-thousandth-of-a-second semifinal loss to Ron Capps from the week prior in Seattle, posting a 3.872-second, 333.00 mph run to move into the semis.
There, luck was on his side. Despite smoking the tires and posting a 5.23-second pass, Hyde moved on when Jack Beckman crossed the centerline, resulting in disqualification.
“You never want to win that way, but a round win is still a round win,” said Hyde. “Skill is important in this sport, but sometimes being lucky is even more important.”
In the final round, Hyde lined up against reigning Funny Car world champion Austin Prock. While Prock’s 3.904 at 333.82 mph was enough to take the win, Hyde still laid down a solid 3.956 at 323.35 in his runner-up effort.
“You can’t be too upset losing to what I think everybody would consider the best Funny Car team in the world right now,” Hyde said. “They’re pretty dominant. But hey, we’re showing everybody we can hang — so that’s all we can do.”
Hyde’s performance adds to a rapidly growing rookie résumé that includes multiple semifinal appearances, four Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge qualifications, and a win in that specialty race earlier this season in Las Vegas. With the Countdown approaching, he’s putting himself in position to be a legitimate dark horse in the Funny Car title fight.
And for drag racing fans who’ve been following Hyde’s trajectory, this breakout moment didn’t come out of nowhere. The Ontario-based driver won the 2023 Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, a race widely regarded as the biggest and richest independent Pro Modified event in the sport. That victory put Hyde on the radar of many industry insiders and helped open the door to his full-time Funny Car opportunity with Jim Head Racing.
Now, Hyde is making the most of it.
“Jim (Head) and Dave (Leahy) have got a great handle on this car, as they proved this weekend,” said Hyde. “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.”
With just a few races remaining before the Countdown to the Championship, Hyde is gaining steam at the perfect time.
“I have a lot of confidence at this point in the season,” he added. “The last few races have been really good, and I think this is a good time to get hot. We want to try and make a run at a championship. Albeit, it’s going to be tough, but we want to be in the mix. We want to be talked about.”
This story was originally published on July 27, 2025. 
