New Faces Dot NHRA Nitro Ranks; Summit Racing Finals Get Added Payouts
Auto racing always needs new blood to compete and carry on the traditions of those that cemented their places in motorsports history. While the emphasis remains on those that drive, the sport also demands youthful team owners, crew members and safety personnel. The circle continues unbroken when this need is recognized and filled.
One team owner who truly understands this need in NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series competition is Jim Head, who campaigns a Funny Car this year for Canadian Spencer Hyde, who came from the Congruity Pro Mod Series to compete in nitro racing. Even before Head tabbed Hyde for his Ford Mustang Flopper, the 33-year-old had licensed in the Paton Top Fuel dragster and performed laps in that machine. He earned his Funny Car crossover license a few weeks before the start of this 2025 season.
Head knew he might have his hands full with Hyde, but he really didn’t expect the success the partnership has already engendered. In the seventh race of the season, during the 12th annual NHRA New England Nationals at Epping, NH’s New England Dragway, Hyde set several new personal bests as he raced to the finals in his class, including qualifying for a spot in this coming weekend’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.
“I am so proud of myself and the Head Racing team for everything we accomplished this weekend. Everyone can see that we have a competitive car. Making it to the finals in just my fifth Funny Car start is huge and I am grateful for the opportunity,” Hyde said.
In his semifinal round against Jack Beckman in John Force Racing’s Chevrolet SS, Hyde knew one thing: “We had to be aggressive against Jack because he went .87 in the second round. I had my best light ever against Jack and I was pretty jacked up for that. It was also the first time I’ve successfully pedaled one of these things. It sucks to see what happened to Jack there, but I am glad he is okay,” Hyde said after Beckman’s car made a sharp left, impacting the retaining walls twice.
With less than 50 runs in Head’s Funny Car, Hyde is grateful after reaching Epping’s final round and being “just one win light short of a great day” in this difficult class. Enjoying the back-to-back contests because, “The long breaks suck because you almost have to reteach yourself in Q1 again. Now I’m starting to really feel comfortable in the car. This weekend gave me a lot of confidence as a rookie driver. We’re right there, knocking on the door. Everybody knows we’re here – the win is coming!”
While he hasn’t cracked the Top 10 standings in Funny Car – yet – Spencer Hyde isn’t terribly far away from achieving that distinction, sitting in 12th place behind Bob Tasca III and only 24 points away from tenth place, currently held by another newcomer to the class, Daniel Wilkerson, who formerly held the distinction of crew chief for Chad Green when he won his first Mission Foods Wally winner’s trophy.
In addition to Hyde at this weekend’s SuperGrip Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, Julie Nataas is making her Funny Car class debut at one of the most beautiful tracks on the schedule. NHRA’s Top Alcohol Dragster 2023 champ, with more than three dozen Wallys earned, spent three months testing and completed her Funny Car licensing in early May under the tutelage and watchful eye of two-class nitro champ Del Worsham, her current team owner and crew chief in the nitro Funny Car ranks.
The Norwegian racing star is supported by climate tech sponsor Airmine, her longtime backer that supported her 2024 Top Fuel debut. “This is a huge moment, and having a hometown brand with global reach like Airmine alongside me again makes it even more special,” Nataas said. She noted that Airmine uses satellite data to track air qualify and pollen levels worldwide: “They are launching a US app, so the timing is perfect.”
Nataas is one of the few female drivers who hold active NHRA licenses in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, a rare distinction. With her added credentials in both Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car, Nataas is one of the most versatile female drivers in the straight-line sport today. She’s stepping into a DC Motorsports Toyota GR Supra that has performed competitively with Bobby Bode earning a spot in the class’ Top 10 before returning to his family’s team for the summer.
It’s so like Del and Connie Worsham to give talented drivers real shots in a competitive Funny Car during this transitional season for the DC Motorsports team. Their goal, as Del Worsham stated, isn’t just to get Julie Nataas into the show – with 16 cars on the grounds, that won’t be a problem – it’s to put her in position to win rounds and maybe even races. “Julie is smart, focused and fearless,” Del Worsham stated. “She’s alarmingly self-aware and understands the car. She shares feedback from the run like a seasoned veteran.”
Hyde and Nataas are part of a group of mentored younger drivers who are making a mark on the sport. With Cory Reed successfully changing classes from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Pro Stock, Cody Coughlin becoming the sole KB Titan Racing Coughlin in Pro Stock – and earning his first No. 1 qualifier in New Hampshire last weekend – Bobby Bode’s success in Worsham’s Funny Car, Maddi Gordon prepping for her Top Fuel debut as a protege of team owner and three-time Funny Car champ Ron Capps, as well as four-time Top Fuel champ Antron Brown’s support for three-time Pro Stock Motocycle champ Angelle Sampey in the Top Alcohol, and eventually Top Fuel dragster class, NHRA’s future looks like it’s got the youthful talent to move forward.
This weekend’s Funny Car class has a total of 16 entries; Nataas will definitely be racing on Sunday, along with all members of the class’ top 10, along with Chad Green’s son Hunter in the team’s Dodge Charger Set Hellcat. In Top Fuel, there are – again – 15 entries, granting the No. 1 qualifier a bye round. Spencer Massey, Cameron Ferre and Cody Krohn join the regulars for a trip to Bristol Dragway. Pro Stock has 19 entries, marking the return of the three Cuadra Boys. Pro Stock Motorcycle mirrors Top Fuel with 15 entries; Brayden Davis is riding one of Vance & Hines Motorsports’ rental Suzuki Hayabusa3 motorcycles, joined by Charles Poskey and Bandon Litten, also riding Suzuki motorcycles.
The SuperGrip Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway features the return of Congruity Pro Mod, together with Lucas Ol Drag Racing Series classes Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, Top Sportsman, Mountain Motor Pro Stock, Top Dragster and Factory Stock Showdown. FS1 airs all qualifying and finals shows in their initial broadcasts, with FS2 showing re-airs. It could be a wet weekend – or not – as preliminary forecasts call for showers and possibly thunderstorms starting later in the week and continuing through Monday.
NHRA announced a group of updates of its Summit Racing Series World Championship, including a purse increase, a first-time team competition, together with special opportunities that its Summit Racing competitors have an earned opportunity to experience. As part of NHRA’s Halloween weekend extravaganza on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, held October 30 through November 2, 32 standout winners from the eight Summit Racing E.T. Finals in Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman and Motorcycle are preparing to compete for glory and money.
This annual event for eligible NHRA Summit Series racers from both the United States and Canada, will now award winners $6,000 in each category and also award the runners-up and semifinalists for the first time. The runner-up in each class earns $2,000 and semifinalists take home $500.
Another new wrinkle in this competition features all seven NHRA divisions and a Canadian team in team competition. Teasm points will come from round wins earned by each division, with the winning team taking home $2,000. Additionally, NHRA is awarding $1,000 in bonus awards for each category during their fist two Brounds, with a bonus going to the best losing package in the opening stanza and a bonus foe the best reaction time in each class in the second round.
Fully realized, payouts for the four competing categories increase by $15,000 from last year, adding even more incentive to the racers that qualify to run in Las Vegas.
2025 NHRA Summit Racing Series E.T. Finals Schedule
Division 1 Canada – Luskville Dragway, Luskville, Québec, Sept. 18-20
Division 1 – Numidia Dragway, Numidia, Pa., Sept. 19-21
Division 2 – Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 9-12
Division 3 – Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk, Ohio, Sept. 11-13
Division 4 – Texas Motorplex, Dallas, Oct. 3-4
Division 5 – Tri-State Raceway, Earlville, Iowa, Sept. 12-14
Division 6 – Mission Raceway Park, Mission, British Colombia, Aug. 28-31
Division 7 – Firebird Motorsports Park, Phoenix, Oct. 3-5
NHRA Summit Racing Series World Championship
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Oct. 30-Nov. 2
(as part of the NHRA Nevada Nationals)