DALLAS, May 20, 2025 -- In its inaugural season Talkin' Funny Cars with Buddy Hull introduced the wildly entertaining personalities of NHRA Funny Car drivers to a broader audience on the NHRA's FAST channel. The interview style show hosted by Funny Car driver Buddy Hull was recognized today as a People's Telly Gold Winner in the 46th annual Telly Awards. Since 1979, the NYC based Telly Awards have showcased excellence in video and television and winning this honor is a huge accomplishment for Werner G+E, the production company that produced all the Talkin' Funny Cars episodes. This year's winners include Pixar Animation Studios, Hearst Media, ESPN, LinkedIn, NATO, MTV Entertainment Studios, NASA, the LA Clippers (NBA), Sawhorse Productions, Telemundo and more.
"Talkin' Funny Cars doesn't exist without Buddy Hull and his larger-than-life personality as well as all our amazing guests," said Elon Werner, president of Werner G+E, LLC. "Buddy brought out great stories and insights from every guest, Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon, Dan Wilkerson, Paul Lee, Austin Prock, Matt Hagan, J.R. Todd, Jack Beckman and legendary Funny Car driver Billy Meyer. I also want to thank the NHRA community for supporting the show both by watching it all season and in voting for the People's Telly as well as everyone at the Telly Awards. We are excited about season two this year."
Talkin' Funny Cars with Buddy Hull, the first television offering produced by Werner G+E LLC, debuted on the NHRA FAST Channel Wednesday, July 31, 2024. The interview-style program, hosted by NHRA professional Funny Car driver Buddy Hull was 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.
"Making this show with all my fellow Funny Car drivers was a blast," said Buddy Hull. "I learned a ton my rookie year on the track driving a Funny Car for Jim Dunn Racing. Off the track was also an amazing education and Talkin' Funny Cars was a big part of that. I can't thank all the drivers who joined the show to share their stories but also their support teams for helping us promote it and especially the NHRA for providing the platform to air the show. Huge thanks to Elon Werner, Warren Evans and Abby Werner-Woodward for producing the show. It was a great team effort."
Talkin' Funny Cars with Buddy Hull is the brainchild of Werner G+E LLC president Elon Werner, who also owns a successful sports public relations company, Werner Communications, and is the creator of Drag Race Bracket Bonanza. Future shows are in the works all focused on bringing original and dynamic content to the NHRA FAST Channel. The opportunity to produce television shows featuring drivers, crew chiefs and NHRA personalities has intrigued Werner since the opportunity was first presented last year.
"When the opportunity to create an original series was presented to me in early 2024, the creative wheels in my head just started spinning. I think there are endless storylines available for original content whether it is 30-minute personality driven shows or longer form documentaries and even scripted series," said Werner. "Our goal at Werner G+E will be to develop Talkin' Funny Cars with Buddy Hull with an eye on additional programming opportunities. We have several additional projects in the works for 2025 and beyond. Winning this People's Telly Award is really the cherry on top of a great first season."
The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens. Winners are selected from local, regional and cable television commercials, with non-broadcast video and television programming added soon after the Telly Awards began. The award has evolved with the rise of digital video to include branded content, documentary, social media, immersive and more. The Telly Awards today celebrates the best work in the video medium in an exciting new era of the moving image on and offline.
Over 13,000 entries from across the globe and top video and television content producers were eligible for Telly Awards in 2025. Previous winners have included AirBnB, Adobe, BET Networks, Bloomberg, CBS Interactive, Comcast, Conde Nast, ESPN, FleishmanHillard, Fox, Golden State Warriors, HBO, Hearst, Microsoft, MLB, NASA, National Geographic, NBC, Ogilvy and Mather, The History Channel, Time Warner, Paramount, Viacom, and WSJ.
The full list of the 46th Annual Telly Awards winners can be found at www.tellyawards.com/winners/
About Werner Games + Entertainment
Werner Games + Entertainment is a turnkey production company operating in the drag racing space. Founded in 2024, Werner G+E is responsible for the development of Drag Race Bracket Bonanza, the first dynamic bracket competition for drag racing fans. It's first TV show Talkin' Funny Cars with Buddy Hull premiered on the NHRA's streaming channel in July 2024 and won a 2025 Gold People's Telly Award. Werner G+E strives to create content to better engage current drag racing fans and create new ones while also raising the profiles of current and former NHRA drivers, crew chiefs and NHRA personalities. Content plans include additional reality and interview series on NHRA's 24/7 digital channel, YouTube content, podcasts, books and a scripted TV series.
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