Buddy Hull arrived at the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals ready to stand on business. He now has a whole year of experience underneath his belt, and he proved what he and the Jim Dunn Racing team are capable of after they advanced to the quarterfinals on race day. Despite having qualifying cut short, the team was able to make several consistent passes that showed their car is moving in the right direction. This means they will be able to make a strong run for a Top 10 position in the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
“What a great way to start the year. We won the first round of the season at the Gatornationals. We have a good race car,” said Hull. “We have a race car that’s now showing signs of life. We have proven we can go down the track when it’s tough. We smoked the tires in the second round, and we don’t really know why yet. But we have a really good team, and we did a lot of good for our sponsor True Brand.”
Hull’s best run of the weekend came during the first round of eliminations on Sunday when he made a 4.048 second, 313.37 mph pass against fellow competitor Daniel Wilkerson. It was their first time meeting in competition, so Hull now holds a 1-0 record over Wilkerson.
“Daniel is a great guy, someone who I get along with really well,” said Hull. “We grew up basically in each other’s backyard, and he was a great interview on my show ‘Talkin Funny Cars with Buddy Hull.’ But I don’t care who I line up against, I show up with the attitude that I want to reach the finish line first.”
Coming into qualifying, Hull knew it would be competitive to get into the field, with 18 cars vying for 16 spots. After two consistent passes during qualifying on Friday, Hull landed in the No. 12 spot. When Saturday’s planned two additional qualifying sessions were rained out, Hull’s No. 12 position was finalized. The rain followed the competitors into race day, with the first round of Funny Car not taking place until about 2:15 p.m.
“I want to thank the fans for waiting out all the things we had to deal with this weekend and today,” said Hull. “They had many, many opportunities to leave and never come back, but instead they stayed. This just proves that NHRA fans are the best fans in the world.”
In the second round, Hull squared off with eventual Gatornationals winner Chad Green. As Hull was powering down his lane at the top end, his True Brand Funny Car smoked the tires as Green pulled away. At the finish line Hull’s 5.293 second pass wasn’t enough to defeat Green’s 4.106 second run. It was a solid quarterfinal effort for Hull and Jim Dunn Racing.
The Gatornationals is a fresh start for everyone, but Hull felt it was particularly needed for him and Jim Dunn Racing. At last year’s final race, the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, Hull was unexpectedly DNQ’d due to a technical issue with their headers, that they attempted to dispute.
“I needed to get over what happened to us in Pomona,” said Hull. “I needed to get back in the car. And I was focused all winter long on getting back on the track and winning rounds. I came in here with the attitude of, I’m just going to carry all the energy from last year into this year. Last year was a rookie season and now we are a whole season better. We’re ready this year for everything that gets thrown at us.”
Hull and the Jim Dunn Racing team will next be at competition at the NHRA Arizona Nationals on March 21-23 at Firebird Motorsports Park. There will be two qualifying sessions on Friday, March 21 and two qualifying sessions on Saturday, March 22. For tickets or more information on the NHRA Arizona Nationals visit nhra.com.
This story was originally published on March 10, 2025. 
