But at the top of that list is Hyde ’ s parents , Peter and Lisa . Hyde has been a gearhead from a very young age , and his parents always encouraged him to explore that passion , though they did have to steer him in some instances .
“ I wanted to race motocross and snow-cross as a kid pretty bad ,” Hyde begins as he tells the story of his start in racing . “ Dad was around flattrack racing in his younger years , and he saw a bunch of his buddies getting pretty busted up , so that was off the table .
“ A good buddy of mine , Joey , was racing Jr . Dragsters and they asked me to come along with them to the races one time ,” Hyde continues . “ They ended up putting me in a car and just
DOZENS OF HYDE ’ S CREW MEMBERS , FAMILY , FRIENDS , SUPPORTERS , AND EVEN THE WSOPM TEAM PILED IN FOR A CHAMPAGNE- SOAKED WINNER ’ S CIRCLE PHOTO , CAPPING OFF AN EXHILARATING DAY AT BRADENTON . driving around the pits . That turned into running one down the track . Anyways , we bought one and I ended up winning my first race ever in a Jr . Dragster . So that kind of the bug bit pretty hard there .”
Hyde ’ s career progressed into Top Dragster and Top Sportsman before a brief stint in Outlaw 10.5 to get his feet wet in heads-up competition . That led to Pro Mod , where Hyde won the Fuel- Tech Pro Mod Drag Racing Series championship in Canada in 2021 , the same year he was named a DI 30 Under 30 honoree . With the COVID border restrictions lifted , the Hyde Racing team has since expanded its schedule to include races all over the eastern U . S .
“ Mom and Dad had what they thought was going to be a fairly reasonable investment , Junior Dragsters ,” Hyde laughs . “ That turned into a pretty full-scale operation here as we ’ re standing in a full semi with a Pro Modified team out here . But they ’ ve been great . They know it ’ s my passion and they watch me work hard at it and it ’ s going well , so it ’ s pretty good .”
With a win at the biggest Pro Mod race of the year under their belts , Hyde and his team are going on tour . Starting at the season opener , Hyde plans to run six of the eight PDRA races this season to mix it up in Pro Boost . He ’ d run the full series , but he has a couple significant schedule overlaps – he ’ s driving one of the Paton family ’ s Top Fuel dragsters at a match race back at home in Ontario , and he ’ s getting married to his fiancée , Jamie . It all adds up to a busy year , but Hyde and company have made it clear they can handle anything .
“ This was a big breakthrough for our team , and our guys got some confidence coming into the PDRA season ,” Hyde says from his trailer at GALOT Motorsports Park . “ It ’ s definitely a lot different pulling in here this year than last year . People are still coming over and congratulating us . And like I said , they ’ re not taking us lightly anymore . They know we ’ re going to be here to win , and that ’ s what we ’ re planning on doing .” DI
104 | | Drag Illustrated | | DragIllustrated . com . com Issue 182