NHRA Funny Car competitor Paul Lee will fly the DRAGZINE banner aboard his McLeod Racing-backed Dodge Charger at this weekend’s Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, as he makes his second start this season following a successful return to the cockpit earlier this month in Atlanta.

Much like Atlanta, where Lee earned his first career Top Alcohol Funny Car crown, the Route 66 Raceway holds a special place for the California native — he was runner-up there in 2004 and also earned his fuel Funny Car license at the Joliet, Illinois super-track the Monday following that same event.

“Route 66 has always been really great to me,” says Lee, owner of McLeod Racing. “I went to the finals in Alcohol Funny Car and now we are looking to do it in the nitro Funny Car. After Atlanta, I can’t wait to get back in the seat. If Atlanta was any kind of insight of what this team and what this car can do, I have no worries that we will be going rounds on Sunday.”

In his triumphant and at, one time, unlikely, return to professional competition following a near-death heart attack 2016, Lee qualified ninth and advanced to the second round of eliminations, falling to Robert Hight in a tire-smoking affair. This weekend, he’ll aim to improve upon that performance, and he’ll do so while activating a fresh, new approach to traditional marketing.

During the weekend, DRAGZINE will serve as the official publication of the McLeod Funny Car.

“Racing is fun, but the B2B is a huge part of the success,” says Lee. We have been doing business with James Lawrence and the entire Power Automedia group for many years on the manufacturer’s side. Power Automedia is a great avenue of marketing for McLeod and we want to return the favor and shed some national television light on the publication, Dragzine.”

Lee’s Funny Car, operated in partnership with Straightline Strategy Group, is tuned by veteran Jim Oberhofer and shares data with the Top Fuel team of Clay Millican. In addition to the Route 66 Nationals, Lee is entered at nine additional events in 2019.