"Smokey Joe" Lee, a popular Funny Car racer in Southern California in the 1970s, died March 8 after a long battle with cancer. He was 65.

Lee, who lived in Lemon Grove, Calif., near San Diego, raced in Top Fuel in the late 1960s, driving the Shifter dragster for Leonard Abbott of Lenco Transmissions, where he worked for many years.

Lee transitioned into his own Funny Car in 1970 and campaigned a series of mostly Dodge- and Plymouth-bodied cars until the middle of the decade.

Lee is survived by his wife, Barbara, and brothers, Jack, Jim, Jerry, and Jeff. No date for services has been set.