Paul Lee and Jim Oberhofer are making their presence known in Funny Car

Eleven Funny Cars ran in the three-second zone during Friday’s two qualifying passes at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals and Paul Lee and tuner Jim Oberhofer were among that fast group, emblematic of their quick rise to prominence in just their third race together.

Paul Lee and Jim Oberhofer. On the surface you might think they’re a bit of an odd couple, the comebacking Funny Car driver and the talented Top Fuel tuner, brought together under the new Straightline Strategy racing group, needs and positions being filled, but the duo – both originally New Jersey boys – have a lot in common beyond their roots.

Lee is back to racing with a new lease on life after a near fatal heart attack in December 2016 and one might say that Oberhfoer is also looking for meaning and life after his long tenure with Kalitta Motorsports ended in late 2018, and together they’re creating an interesting story in the Funny Car pits.

Eleven Funny Cars ran in the three-second zone during Friday’s two qualifying passes at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals and driver Paul Lee and tuner Jim Oberhofer and their McLeod Dodge Charger were among that fast group, emblematic of their quick rise to prominence in just their third race together.

“We’re getting there,” allowed Oberhofer. “All of the other teams can see that by looking at the [run data] sheets. We’re getting a baseline, and gathering data. We’ve got less than a dozen runs together but we’ve run in the threes a couple of times already and I’m still learning.

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