Prior to the NHRA Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals this weekend NHRA Funny Car driver Buddy Hull headed across the massive SMI motorsports property to the infield of Las Vegas Motor Speedway to take in a new high horsepower experience at Dream Racing. The five-star driving experience, Dream Racing shows what it means to be a race car driver of super cars and luxury race cars. The concept behind Dream Racing is simple: a culmination of its founders’ passion for racing and years of experience as instructors and directors at the most prestigious driving experiences and driving schools in the world. This weekend Hull and his Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car are receiving support from Primal Steakhouse and its owner Chad Dillow who is a Dream Racing member and super car enthusiast. Dillow arranged for Hull to make laps in a variety of super cars and race cars this afternoon.
“We’re out here at Dream Racing, thanks to our friend at Chad from Primal Steakhouse, they’re highly connected out here,” said Hull, who will be racing in his fourth Funny Car career national event this weekend. “Primal is sponsoring our Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car this weekend and we thought it would be cool to get some laps in a different kind of racecar. I got to drive the Lamborghini racecar with (instructor) Edoardo Liberati and as expected, it’s not as easy as it appears on the outside. I had a great coach, who is a team Lamborghini driver. It went well, and we went out there and didn’t wreck the car and didn’t hit any walls or anything. We had a good time and turned some good laps, so it was great.”
Hull was behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracán GT race car. This 5.2 liter, V10 612 HP can reach a top speed of 205 mph and accelerates from 0-60 in less than three seconds. Hull was trying his hand with the 6-speed, 3-disc racing clutch with the F1 paddle shifter. The track was a 1.2 mile, nine turn road course located in the center of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Race cars can reach speeds up to 240 kph / 150 mph in the straight away and lateral G-Forces up to 1.6 Gs. When Hull and Liberati came back into the paddock the instructor had nothing but praise for Hull who usually only makes one turn after hitting speeds over 330 mph.
“He did great,” said Liberati, Team Lamborghini driver and Dream Racing instructor. “It is something really different from his Funny Car. He just had to get used to braking because here we need to apply a lot of pressure to stop the car. Lap after lap he was really getting there. I could tell he really enjoyed it and he was improving lap after lap.
Hull’s experience behind the wheel of the Lamborghini race car gave the Top Fuel and Funny Car driver a new appreciation for road racing. Beyond the differences in driving, Hull was immediately aware of the physical toll drivers like Liberati put themselves through.
“It’s totally different, just diving into corners and squeezing the throttle getting out of the corners,” said Hull. “When you come out here and you do something like this, it’s so much different than what we do, you certainly gain respect for these guys. They’re athletes, you know. I made seven laps, and I got out of the car, and I can feel muscles in my body that don’t normally get worked in a nitro Funny Car that are getting worked and you feel your ribs a little bit because you are supporting your body going on those corners. It was just cool.”
As Hull prepares for his first four-wide experience driving a Funny Car he was also struck by the aesthetic differences from his 12,000-horsepower nitro Funny Car and the Lamborghini Huracán GT race car. Hull said so many things were similar with regards to steering wheel position and how the driver sat in the race car, but one thing jumped out at the veteran drag racer.
“It’s funny because you get a Lamborghini race car and you look at the dash and it’s got suede on it. We’re used to seeing sheet metal titanium and chromoly so it’s pretty cool. Even though they are race cars they still have a certain amount of class about them. That’s beautiful. I can’t wait to do this again sometime. I have to thank everyone at Dream Racing and Chad from Primal Steakhouse for making this happen.”
Hull and the Jim Dunn Racing team will be making two qualifying runs on Friday, April 12 and two qualifying runs on Saturday, April 13 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The top 16 quickest Funny Cars in the field will have a chance to take home the first four-wide Wally of the season on Sunday, April 14. The first round of eliminations will begin on Sunday at 12 p.m. PST. Fans can watch the finals on FS1. For tickets or more information on the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals visit nhra.com.
This story was originally published on April 12, 2024. 
