Race Reports
Had a solid 3.932 @ 330.39 in E1, but came up a bit short to J.R.'s 3.881 @ 331. We've got a great racecar, just need a bit of luck on our side one of these days! We'll be back for more in Houston next weekend!
By Wearing a green NHRA hat for the first time in his Funny Car career, you could almost see the smile through Paul Lee’s mask on Saturday at brisk World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis.
After pushing through one rain delay after another – which put off qualifying nearly eight hours on Saturday – Lee made his lone run count, vaulting to the No. 1 spot under the lights with an impressive pass of 3.913-seconds at 326.95 in his 11,000-horsepower FTI Performance Dodge Charger at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.
When the Funny Car pairs came to the line it was obvious drivers and crew chiefs where going to battle overpowering the track, and relying on their drivers to manage the mighty torque of their nitromethane burning Hemi engines. Paul Lee’s Global Electronic Dodge made the cleanest pass with a 3.913-second run at 326.95 mph. Alexis DeJoria also bears watching after she made the third-best pass with a 3.929 at 288.21mph in her RoKit/ABK Beer Toyota. DeJoria opened the season with a semifinal finish but has recently dropped to eighth place in the tough Funny Car title chase. DeJoria will be paired with Cruz Pedregon also made a reasonably clean run with a 3.949-second pass at 329.58 mph. Pedregon was next to Lee when he qualify third.
Funny Car's Paul Lee and his remarkable tale of perseverance is the main story in Drag Illustrated’s annual “Interview Issue,” which was released digitally on Monday and sent to subscribers this week. It dives into Lee’s adversity, as he details what happened and his arduous road to recovery after a widow maker heart attack.
