GAINESVILLE, FLA. (March 8, 2026) — Making his debut as both a driver and Funny Car team owner, Buddy Hull and the newly formed Hull Racing team showed resilience and determination during the season-opening AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Competing in a stacked 19-car Funny Car field, Hull qualified in the No. 17 position, placing him ahead of both Todd Lesenko and reigning world champion Austin Prock. For Hull, the weekend marked the culmination of months of preparation and the beginning of a new chapter as the owner of his own nitro Funny Car operation.
“We’re building this thing from the ground up,” said Hull. “To come out here with a brand-new team, make multiple passes and come very close to qualifying in a field like this says a lot about the guys around me. I’ve already learned a ton this weekend. It’s only going to make us stronger.”
Hull’s race week began early as he joined fans at the Burnyzz FanFest on Wednesday evening to kick off the Gatornationals festivities. On Friday, he also appeared on the NHRA Stage alongside host Hannah Rickards before heading to the staging lanes for qualifying.
Buddy Hull gained a ton of experience at the 2026 NHRA Gatornationals, photo credit Krista Zivcic Photography
HULL GAINS VALUABLE EXPERIENCE AT FIRST RACE OF 2026 SEASON
GAINESVILLE, FLA. (March 8, 2026) — Making his debut as both a driver and Funny Car team owner, Buddy Hull and the newly formed Hull Racing team showed resilience and determination during the season-opening AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
Competing in a stacked 19-car Funny Car field, Hull qualified in the No. 17 position, placing him ahead of both Todd Lesenko and reigning world champion Austin Prock. For Hull, the weekend marked the culmination of months of preparation and the beginning of a new chapter as the owner of his own nitro Funny Car operation.
“We’re building this thing from the ground up,” said Hull. “To come out here with a brand-new team, make multiple passes and come very close to qualifying in a field like this says a lot about the guys around me. I’ve already learned a ton this weekend. It’s only going to make us stronger.”
Hull’s race week began early as he joined fans at the Burnyzz FanFest on Wednesday evening to kick off the Gatornationals festivities. On Friday, he also appeared on the NHRA Stage alongside host Hannah Rickards before heading to the staging lanes for qualifying.
Buddy Hull gained a ton of experience at the 2026 NHRA Gatornationals, photo credit Krista Zivcic Photography
“The pre-race events are so much fun and give us a chance to meet with fans,” said Hull. “I love interacting with the kids from the NHRA stage. On Friday I was offering them permission slips for their schools. It was cool to see so many young fans at the Gatornationals all weekend. That shows me that the NHRA has a great future.”
With limited preparation time, Hull Racing entered the weekend with just one test pass completed before the event. Hull made his first qualifying attempt on Friday, while his second scheduled pass was shut off at the starting line before the run began. The team continued to make progress on Saturday, improving during the third qualifying session before posting their strongest numbers in the final round of qualifying.
Hull’s best run of the weekend came during that final qualifying attempt, when the Funny Car posted a 4.213 second pass at 267.22 mph. About 600 feet down track, however, the engine exploded in a dramatic fireball. Hull wrestled with the car and safely guided it to a stop before climbing out under his own power.
“First and foremost, I’m thankful to be okay,” said Hull. “When something like that happens at speed, your first job is to keep get the car stopped safely. As a husband, a dad, a business owner and now a team owner, my No. 1 priority is making sure I’m safe and that I don’t put my opponent in danger.”
Hull sustained minor burns to his right hand, and credited his safety equipment for helping protect the rest of his body.
“I can’t say enough about the gear from Impact,” said Hull. “That equipment did exactly what it’s designed to do. Situations like that remind you how important it is to have the best safety gear possible.”
Following the run, Hull was already working with his crew chiefs and team to diagnose the cause of the engine failure and prevent a repeat moving forward.
“That’s nitro racing,” said Hull. “We’re already digging into the data and figuring out exactly what happened. The good thing is we learned a lot this weekend. Every pass gives us more information, and with a brand-new team that’s huge.”
Hull said the experience of the weekend reinforced his confidence in the group he has assembled around him.
“I’ve got a great group of guys surrounding me who believe in what we’re building,” said Hull. “Being a team owner means I’m in control of my own destiny. We’re going to take what we learned here, fix what we need to fix and keep moving forward as a team.”
Hull Racing’s Funny Car carried primary sponsorship from FS Performance and Sam Pack Ford during the Gatornationals weekend.
“This was our first race as Hull Racing, and there’s a lot to be proud of,” said Hull. “We held our own in a tough field, we gathered valuable data and we proved we belong out here. Now it’s about continuing to improve and building this team one race at a time.”
The next race on the schedule is the FMP NHRA Arizona Nationals presented by NGK Spark Plugs on March 20-22 at Firebird Motorsports Park. There will be two qualifying sessions on Friday, March 20 and two qualifying sessions on Saturday, March 21. For tickets or more information on the NHRA Arizona Nationals visit nhra.com.
