A year after a disappointing qualifying effort at the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs second year Funny Car pro Spencer Hyde grabbed his second career No. 1 qualifier today at Firebird Motorsports Park. The up-and-coming driver who hails from Stratford, Ontario will go into eliminations with the quickest Funny Car on the property facing No. 16 qualifier Blake Alexander in the first round of eliminations. Hyde recorded his first career No. 1 qualifier at the Reading Nationals, the first race of the 2025 NHRA Countdown, last season. His No. 1 qualifier time of 3.979 seconds at 317.64 mph came in the opening session of qualifying and held up throughout the weekend.
“That’s kind of what I was expecting to be honest,” said Hyde, the 2025 NHRA Rookie of the Year. “I figured, looking at the weather and the schedule, we figured Q1 was going to be the fastest session. I was a little surprised Chad Green went 3.99 this morning. That was a good run they made. We are happy to make four good, solid runs in qualifying. We kicked the belt off there on Q4 about 700-800 feet. We didn’t make it quite the finish line, but it was still on a decent run.”
During the first two qualifying session Hyde recorded the quickest run of the first session and the second quickest run of qualifying session No. 2 with a solid 4.148 seconds at 300.06 mph in very hot conditions where track temperatures soared over 140 degrees. In the opening session of Saturday Hyde ran 4.098 seconds at 310.41 mph and he closed out qualifying for the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals with a 4.172 second at 275.79 mph run.
“For us to make four A to B trips during qualifying is really good,” said Hyde. “We’re very happy over there. We haven’t been particularly good in the heat. We learned some stuff in Gainesville and some tricky track conditions there, so we found a good hot track tune up, going into Q4 in Gainesville. We made a big change, and it paid off. I’ve got a good race car underneath me. You can deal with whatever track conditions are thrown at the tuner. And Jim’s doing a very good job. I’m happy with the boys and what the team’s done. We’ve got a good group of guys behind us, and I think if we can do that, four more runs tomorrow should be able to put in the winner’s circle.”
Hyde will be looking to build on his momentum from racing to the quarterfinals at the season opening NHRA Gatornationals. The first round of eliminations for Top Fuel and Funny Car will get underway at 10 a.m. tomorrow from Firebird Motorsports Park.
This story was originally published on March 21, 2026. 
