Rolling into this weekend’s NHRA Charlotte 4-Wide Nationals holding the coveted Nitro Funny Car points lead; Paul Lee Racing announces that important partners, SRI Performance and Daido Metal Performance Bearings, are primary sponsors on the McLeod Racing machine. The team looks to continue its impressive early-season momentum at ZMAX Dragway.

Paul Lee Racing enters the unique four-wide competition in Concord, North Carolina (April 25–27), fresh off a string of strong performances. Lee secured his first career Nitro Funny Car victory earlier this year at the Phoenix national event. He immediately followed that by reaching the final round at the previous tour stop, the Las Vegas 4-Wide Nationals. This consistent performance vaulted Lee into the championship points lead heading to Charlotte.

Lee credits the team’s success largely to its equipment and technical partners. “Our race team has been performing at the highest level, and a big part of our success is partners like SRI, Daido Metal, Riken, and SPA,” Lee stated. “SRI’s exclusive products have proven to be a winning combination.” For the Charlotte race, those key partners receive top billing on the 330-plus mph Funny Car.

SRI Performance serves as the exclusive distributor for Daido Metal’s specialized bearings designed for the extreme stresses of 11,000-plus horsepower nitro engines. Daido Metal engineers worked directly with PLR crew chief Jonnie Lindberg and consultant John Medlen to develop these critical components. SRI also exclusively distributes Riken’s high-performance piston rings, which are similarly engineered for nitro applications. Both Riken Rings and Spa Technique fire suppression systems gain increased visibility on the car for this event.

Partners expressed enthusiasm about the team’s performance and the collaboration. “After the big win at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, there’s a ton of momentum heading into Charlotte,” said Greg Fornelli, Owner of SRI Performance. Daido Metal representatives echoed this, with Ron Brock calling professional racing “the ultimate proving ground” for pushing technology and quality.

In addition to battling for the event win, Lee also qualified for the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, a special shootout held during Saturday’s qualifying sessions featuring recent semi-finalists and finalists. Riding high in the points standings, Paul Lee aims to leverage the proven performance of his SRI, Daido, and Riken-equipped Funny Car for another successful outing at the thrilling Charlotte 4-Wide Nationals.