For Paul Richards this season has seen some highs and lows but lately things have definitely been on the upswing. After a non-qualifying effort during the Texas Amalie Oil Nationals in San Antonio TX, the car rebounded at the Presidents Cup Nationals in Budds Creek MD qualifying in the fifth spot by making two consistent runs.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday night at a match race in Englishtown, NJ the car again ran two consistent laps and to top it off didn’t hurt any parts.

With this in mind car owner Paul Richards made the decision to head north for this weekends Mopar Canadian Nationals in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada. For Paul Richards this season has seen some highs and lows but lately things have definitely been on the upswing. After a non-qualifying effort during the Texas Amalie Oil Nationals in San Antonio TX, the car rebounded at the Presidents Cup Nationals in Budds Creek MD qualifying in the fifth spot by making two consistent runs.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday night at a match race in Englishtown, NJ the car again ran two consistent laps and to top it off didn’t hurt any parts.

With this in mind car owner Paul Richards made the decision to head north for this weekends Mopar Canadian Nationals in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada.

Unfortunately, current driver/crew chief Mike Smith had a prior commitment which left him unable to attend. However, also present at the match race in Englishtown was veteran driver Paul Lee who already this season has a win and a runner-up on the IHRA tour. A deal was quickly struck which will find Lee behind the wheel of the Merchants Tire and Auto Centers entry.

With a driver in place the next piece of the puzzle was to find a crew chief and Richards didn’t have to look far crewmember Mike Roberts will step into the crew chief role this weekend. Roberts, a veteran crewmember for numerous nitro and alcohol teams has been serving as assistant crew chief this year. As an added bonus, Roberts was part of the winning crew for last year’s Top Fuel winner Scotty Cannon.

“We know we have a good combination in the car for the conditions we’ll see this weekend” stated Richards. “Paul Lee drove for us at several races last year and obviously he has proven to be a winner this year and Mike Roberts has shown us he is more than capable of tuning one of these cars so Mike Smith and I felt is was the time to give him a shot.”

Merchants Tire and Auto Centers will be bannered on the car in addition to associate sponsors Science of Racing, Florida Brake and Truck Parts, All Pro Pools and Boninfante Performance Clutches.