Thursday, January 21, 2010

Hyde Racing team to debut new car in Quick 32 Sportsman Series



Stratford, Ontario team switches from blown Top Dragster
to nitrous-powered Cobalt Top Sportsman entry

STRATFORD, ONTARIO (January 20, 2010) – Spencer Hyde will be not only be in a new car for the upcoming Quick 32 Sportsman Series, he will be in a new class of car.

Hyde, former driver of the Hyde Racing Top Dragster, will be piloting a 2007 Cobalt in the Top Sportsman division of the Series.

“We decided we wanted to go into a nitrous program, and wanted to jump into a door car,” explained Hyde, who placed eighth in the NAPA Auto Parts Quick 32 Sportsman Series Championship Point Award Series in 2009 with the team’s supercharged dragster.

The new Hyde car will be the ex-Carl Spiering Cobalt, a car built for and raced in the Series by Spiering. The Jerry Bickel Race Cars machine features a 737-cubic inch nitrous-fed engine built and tuned by ERD (Engine Research and Development) from the Spiering shops in Jordan Station, Ontario.

While Hyde mentioned he had some time behind the wheel of a fendered race car, his experience was with a 10-second door-car on the quarter-mile, while the Cobalt should be capable of sub-seven-second times. The majority of his racing has been with Junior Dragsters before stepping into the speedy Top Dragster in 2009.

Hyde mentioned that the success of the team’s dragster program was due to crew chiefs Jim McCann and Rich Ingram.

“We want to thank Jim and Rich for all their help and guidance with the blower car,” Hyde said. “We wouldn’t be where we are without them. We relied on them constantly, and you can expect to see Jim and Rich around the Hyde pits again this year.”

The team is gearing up for the new ride, and is looking forward to getting into the Cobalt.

“I can’t wait,” said Hyde, a graduate of the Frank Hawley School of Drag Racing. “It is certainly going to be different.”

He added the team is planning to go south in the next couple of months for some initial laps with the new car, and Spiering will be involved for this testing session.

“We’ll start with the eighth-mile. We’re going to start easy and work our way up.”

Hyde also mentioned his sister Sydnie, who has been driving a Junior Dragster the past several seasons, will step into the Top Dragster eventually.

The Cobalt will remain in its red livery at the present, and will sport the Hyde Racing team sponsorship of NAPA Auto Parts, Ideal Supply, Hyde Construction, Transit Petroleum, Hyde Electric, Dordan Mechanical Contractors, DuPont, Samson, Ronnoco, Budweiser, Art & Function, Fastpixs Digital Media, N A Engineering, Wilhelm Concrete, Steve Smith Construction, Sutton Group (Paul Graham) and Orr Insurance.

About the Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts:
The Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts, www.Quick32.ca, of drag racing was started early in 2009 as an alternative for high-horsepower Sportsman-class teams to compete on a regular basis, and will continue in 2010 for its second full season.

In 2010 the Quick 32 Sportsman Series will compete at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, Ontario and the South-western Ontario track of the Grand Bend Motorplex.

With 32-car qualified fields comprised of the 16 quickest open wheeled cars (Top Dragster) and the 16 quickest door cars (Top Sportsman), the Quick 32 Sportsman Series featured the best in ET-style, dial-in drag racing, competing on a Sportsman ladder and pit door-slammers against dragsters in every race day final.

Competitors in this Ontario-based Series must comply with the IHRA Top Dragster and Top Sportsman Safety rules and regulations, and the maximum dial-in will be 7.95 seconds for the quarter-mile.

This new venture provided $3000 to win for each event and $5000 for the annual Championship Point Award Series Champion, payouts very popular with competitors and will provide large fields of race cars. 

The Quick 32 Sportsman Series is committed in providing a professional atmosphere for its teams. It will also provide solid media and logistic support to ensure it becomes one of the most popular drag race series running Top Sportsman and Top Dragster race cars.

The Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts competes several times with the Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA), www.PMRA.ca, as well as selected special events, offering fans a great show of drag racing.

Photo Credit: Bill Mehlenbacher Photography - www.nxphoto.com and Mike Goodwin - www.mgdigital.ca
 

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