Through the premier season of Talkin’ Funny Cars with Buddy Hull, the first year Funny Car driver has enjoyed wide ranging conversations with multi-time world champions Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon and Matt Hagan as well as up-and-coming drivers like Daniel Wilkerson and Austin Prock. The latest episode is set to air on the NHRA FAST Channel on Wednesday, October 30, at 8:00 p.m. EST and 8:00 p.m. PST, and features a lively conversation with 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion J.R. Todd, driver of the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car.
“I was so excited to sit down with J.R. and talk about our Funny Car paths,” said Hull. “I have always admired J.R. for how he handles himself behind the wheel and in front of the camera. He’s done it all in drag racing and talking with him about racing for Kalitta Motorsports and legendary team owner Connie Kalitta was pretty cool. What J.R. has done behind the scenes to make improvements in the Funny Car class is impressive and we got a chance to dive into those topics as well as just how cool it is to drive a nitro Funny Car. I have enjoyed talking with all the Funny Car drivers during this first season of the show but the J.R. episode turned out to be one of my favorites.”
Hull sat down with Todd before the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals in early September and the pair of drivers talked about how each of their careers got started in a unique fashion. During the conversation Todd talked about the significance of racing the DHL Toyota GR Supra Funny Car that bears the name of the late Scott Kalitta and how special this year’s Gatornationals win was for the entire Kalitta Motorsports organization. Todd also went behind the scenes on the input he was able to provide Toyota during the development process for the Toyota GR Supra Funny Car body and how he has been working to advance the development of a new steering wheel with former IndyCar driver Max Papis.
“It was fun, and it was good to learn more about Buddy,” the 2018 NHRA Funny Car champion said. “It’s always great to sit down and talk about those things people don’t get to see on weekly racing shows during a standard NHRA race weekend. Anytime you can sit and talk with somebody and talk about past experiences or try to educate the fans on things they might not know, I think it’s always positive for our sport.”
The final two episodes of the inaugural season will include sit downs with PEAK Funny Car driver Jack Beckman and NHRA Hall of Fame Funny Car driver Billy Meyer. Each episode will be a free-for-all conversation with the one constant being the Funny Car Fast Five segment, a rapid-fire Q&A getting the thoughts and opinions from each guest in quick succession. The interview-style program, hosted by Funny Car driver Hull is the latest original series added to the NHRA’s 24/7 digital channel which is available on 13 platforms including the Roku Channel (USA & Canada), Tubi, Samsung TV Plus, Sling Freestream, and others. Interested viewers can search NHRA and select the LIVE option on any of these platforms.
Following the original broadcast of each episode of Talkin’ Funny Cars with Buddy Hull, the show will go into programming rotation on the NHRA FAST Channel. Future new episodes will air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST and 8 p.m. PST leading up to select NHRA national events for the rest of the 2024 season. Past shows including the Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon, Daniel Wilkerson, Austin Prock, and Paul Lee episodes are available on the Talkin’ Funny Cars with Buddy Hull YouTube channel.
This story was originally published on October 28, 2024. 
