PAUL LEE
PAUL LEE’S story is about racing. But it’s also about friends and family, and maybe
most importantly, perseverance. ¶ Lee had just enjoyed a strong finish to his
2016 Funny Car season, joining Kalitta Motorsports and running a career-best
3.935-seconds at 329.34 mph. But he suffered what’s known as a “widow maker”
heart attack in the offseason, a dire name because of its 10 percent survival
rate. Lee miraculously recovered and then upped the ante one more, returning
to racing in 2019 with crew chief Jim Oberhofer as part of his “Comeback Tour.” ¶ The heart attack
didn’t dramatically change his outlook on life, mostly because he’s remained the same enthusiastic,
upbeat, smile-on-his-face racer. ¶ But Lee has appreciated things more since suffering the
heart attack that nearly took his life. It’s why
friends and family are always welcome in his
pit, no matter how things may have gone on that
particular raceday.
“It’s not just Paul Lee’s race team. It says on the
back of my trailer Paul Lee’s friends and family
nitro Funny Car,” Lee says. “We race as a family
race team. I think that’s the most important thing
that gives me the greatest happiness is to be able
to see all my friends and family at the racetrack.”
With Global Electronic Technology backing
Lee’s 11,000-horsepower Toyota Camry in
2020, he posted career-bests to open the year,
including a 3.898 in Phoenix and 332.92 mph
in Pomona. It had Lee charged up to win his
first career Funny Car race when the racing
world was turned on its head with the ongoing
COVID-19 public health crisis.
Lee chalked it up as another challenge, poised
to be ready when NHRA racing resumes in July.
He talked with Drag IllustrateD about the moment
that changed his life, his incredible return to
recovery and the arduous road he endured, how
much friends and family meant to him in this
journey and why a Funny Car win would mean.
The last few months with the pandemic, it’s
obviously been a lot to digest as a racer and
a business owner. How are things for you in
both regards?
We’re ready to go. The guys are back to work
getting the car ready to go racing in July. We’ve
been ready to race and we’ll be ready.
As far as our business, McLeod Racing and
FTI Performance, we haven’t slowed down one
bit, which is great news. Our sales have been
through the roof the whole time, which is pretty
amazing. I’m even surprised at that, but people
have been stuck at home and need something
to do, so they’ve been working on their projects,
whether it’s a hot rod project or a custom car
rebuild, or even working on their race car getting
it ready for when we do race. All the hardcore
racers have been at it, getting ready for race season,
which we’re pretty blessed and fortunate
that that’s the case.
We were prepared for the worst, but we were
pleasantly surprised. It was very nice to see that
we didn’t have to lay anybody off. We didn’t have
to furlough anyone.
What’s your takeaway on what the schedule
looks like for the rest of the 2020 NHRA season?
Well, I mean, there’s pros and cons to it. The
two-day racing I think is a good idea. It makes
it more affordable when you’re making two less
runs and plus one less day of hotel rooms, all
SINCE RETURNING TO RACING, LEE HAS
MADE STEADY IMPROVEMENTS, SETTING
CAREER-BESTS TO OPEN THE 2020 NHRA
SEASON BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
64 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 157