Competition Plus - Paul Lee is not a “Look at me! Look at me!” kind of racer.
But the Funny Car racer has a passion for this sport and this industry and journey from the academic world back to the racetrack that might surprise some fans.
His love for drag racing caused him to give up the chance for a career as a lawyer. But on his way to a law degree from Rutgers University in his native New Jersey, Lee made a painful decision to divorce himself from drag racing altogether while he pursued his studies. In the end, his heart won the professional tug-o-war, and he is well on his way to becoming an aftermarket titan in addition to owning his Funny Car operation.
Lee earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and was graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Business. Then, armed with an Ivy League education, he added an MBA in finance from Rutgers and went on to attain a law degree.
Top Fuel driver Krista Baldwin, creative director for Lee’s McLeod Racing and FTI Performance companies and the general manager for his Funny Car team, said, “He told me that he had to cut drag racing completely off when he was in school. He did not go to a race. He did not get a National Dragster. He did not do anything with drag racing, because obviously he knew that's what he wanted to do. But in order to succeed on that side of what he wanted to do, he had to cut it off.”
Of course, he couldn’t step away for too long. He was a Philadelphia Stock Exchange lawyer with a promising future (as well as working as an investment banker), but, as he told Baldwin, he one day asked himself, “What am I doing with my life? I need more racing.”
What high-powered East Coast high-finance insider wouldn’t think that? So Lee did the logical thing: he became the CFO at Boninfante Clutches. He had been friends with Rob and Nicky Boninfante since they all were youngsters.
And this drag-racing addict from Glassboro, N.J., who started racing his mother’s Plymouth Duster at Atco Raceway as teenager, continued to race. He stepped up to an Alcohol Funny Car – and even spent one race running back and forth from his pit to a nitro Funny Car, working on clutches at both, sweating in his firesuit all that day. He raced – and won – in both the IHRA and, by 2005, the NHRA. But he continued to focus on clutches.
“Paul is all about the clutches,” Baldwin said.
So it truly was a logical move to buy McLeod when the opportunity arose. When he was at Boninfante, McLeod ownership had gone from Red Roberts to B&M, and B&M was getting ready to sell it again.
“Paul saw that this is an opportunity because in his first race cars, he used to install McLeod clutches. It's like full circle on how Paul came to McLeod,” Baldwin said of the entrepreneur,” Baldwin said.
McLeod Clutches, which operates under Lee’s Wharton Automotive Group umbrella, also owns FTI Performance and just acquired Silver Sport Transmissions. Lee also recently hired Will Baty, the off-road and research-and-development specialist.
“He puts everything he has into making this work,” Baldwin said. “The whole goal is to have successful companies and to run a Nitro Funny Car. And that's really what he's doing. He's putting it out there.
