NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

A week ago, Paul Lee went to his first professional final round at the Northwest Nationals in Seattle and the way he sees it, that was just one more step forward in his journey towards his ultimate goal of winning a nitro Funny Car title. Lee has already won 7 rounds this season in 10 starts, a far cry from last year’s 4-12 mark in 13 events.

The biggest change in his program is the most obvious; the addition of crew chief Jonnie Lindberg, who works alongside veteran consultant John Medlen. Lindberg has had success with two Top Alcohol Funny Car championships and is a renown fabricator and race car builder. He proved to be a quick study as a nitro tuner as Lee’s McLeod/FTI/ Dodge has been a top half qualifier in eight of ten events, with a best of third (twice).

“The biggest thing for us is that we’re finally getting some breaks. Before Seattle, we’ve had zero luck,” said Lee. “The Seattle race was a prime example. We qualified third which meant we had a chance to pick our pair and we choose to go second. There was a two hour delay after we ran but we weren’t rushed. We had plenty of time and some of the other teams didn’t.”

Lee also gave high marks to Lindberg for his ability to build and maintain a car that makes full runs more often than not.

“It’s more than just the car doing down the track,” Lee explained. “Jonnie is a chassis builder so he knows these cars inside and out. We’re maybe changed 10-12 things that have made the car better to drive. Steering and brakes are just two of the things that he’s worked on and when you’re comfortable as a driver, it’s going to show in your results.”

Lee, the president of Wharton Automotive Group, whose holdings include FTI Transmission, McLeod Clutches, and Silver State Transmission, is more than happy with the success of his team this season but he realizes there is much work to be done in order to compete with the top Funny Car teams in the class, including currenty leader and Seattle winner Austin Prock.

“We’re working on that right now,” Lee says. “We’ve talked about what we need to do to take the next step. We’re talking about upgrading our blower program and our clutch program because those are the two things you need to run really well.”

Lee’s success this season hasn’t been limited to the dragstrip. A long time poker enthusiast, he recently played in the biggest tournament in the world, the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, and enjoyed considerable success including one cash for more than $130,000.

“I played in the $10,000 buy-in main event and got busted on the first day, but I had a couple of other events that went really well. I played in a huge Mystery Millions bounty tournament that had more than 18,000 players and I finished 11th.

“My philosophy is the same in racing and, poker, and in business is the same,” Lee said. “In all three, you have to be aggressive in order to be successful,” said Lee. “I don’t race for a living. I do it because I enjoy it and right now, I’m having the most fun than I’ve ever had in racing. The only thing that would be more fun is winning races, and hopefully that’s the next step.”