Race Reports
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Anaheim, CA (August 7, 2019) Paul Lee returns to the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd with Lucas Oil as a major partner. The Nitro Funny Car will have a special scheme to showcase the Lucas Oil Slick Mist Car Care line. Lee and the McLeod Racing team hope to continue their phenomenal performance on track for 2019.
As growing partners both on and off the track, Lucas Oil and Paul Lee are both anxious to showcase a new look for the Lucas Oil Nationals.
“I’m excited to return working with and representing the Lucas Oil family this year with the NHRA Funny Car team as well as our McLeod Racing business,” says Lee, owner of McLeod Racing. “This new partnership will promote increased sales of Lucas Oil products and allows crew chief Jim Oberhofer and our team to continue a near perfect start in my return to NHRA drag racing.”
Without a doubt, both McLeod Racing and Lucas Oil are industry giants in the performance aftermarket arena. McLeod is now a distributor of Lucas Oil products and will provide their products in conjunction with sales of transmissions and other driveline components.
“We are looking forward to a long working relationship as well as on track performance with Paul Lee and the entire team at McLeod,” says Tom Bogner, Lucas Oil Director of Motorsports. “Lucas Oil Products and McLeod Racing have many of the same goals including selling products. This year marks our 30th celebration of business and our Lucas Oil brand is stronger than ever. As two great American companies, we will continue to grow in the American Muscle aftermarket."
Both partners are equally energized for this collaboration.
“All of us at Lucas Oil are eager to get to Brainerd for the launch of this partnership,” says Duane LaFleur, Lucas Oil Business Development for High Performance. “In the meetings with Paul, each party is optimistic about the future development for both NHRA drag racing and the aftermarket industry.”
The Jim Oberhofer-lead team is looking to build on their accomplishments thus far in 2019. With a 3rdqualifying position and a second-round appearance in Norwalk, Lee looks to continue improving his racing program to become a competitive force in NHRA Funny Car.
Under the umbrella of the Straightline Strategy Group (SSG), this partnership represents the future of the SSG organization. “We are thrilled to represent Paul and now establish the program with Lucas Oil,” says SSG’s Scott Gardner. “This is exactly how we planned our team concept to work.”
“Driving this funny car has been one of the best experiences in my racing career thus far,” says Lee. “I have complete trust in my team and I am confident that we will continue to rack up the round wins on Sunday. This year continues to impress with the performance of the car as well as B2B opportunities with McLeod."
The Lucas Oil/McLeod Racing Funny Car will be on track at Brainerd International Raceway August 16-18. Be sure to follow along: @paul_lee116, @mcleod_racing, @lucasoilproducts.
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.
