Paul Lee made a concerted effort to step up his Funny Car program, starting last season. However, it all pales in comparison to what he is doing in the business world. 

Last week Lee announced his Wharton Automotive group had acquired Silver Sport Transmissions, a TREMEC Elite Distributor, which leads the industry in TREMEC 5 and 6-Speed kits.

Lee, who owns McLeod Racing, a leading supplier of clutches and other driveline products now for five decades, started forging his expanding empire when he purchased the iconic brand back in 2008. After an influx of Lee's determination, McLeod and its associated companies are on the path to developing a one-stop-shop for the driveline.

"We want to be the go-to place for everything driveline, whether it be a stick shift, standard or torque converter and automatic," Lee told CompetitionPlus.com. "We're now an official TREMEC Elite dealer, which there's only 10 in the country. So now we're able to be a full supplier of anything driveline. That's our goal."

While Holley, Edelbrock, Race Winning Brands, and Pertronix have been busy expanding their brands through acquisition, Lee has a plan of his own. 

"We're doing that on a smaller scale," Lee explained. "A lot of the bigger companies that are out there, that have 30 or 40 brands, they have all different segments of the driveline. They could be air cleaners or carburetors, or rear ends and Wheels and tires. But we're not doing that. 

"We're sticking with our core competency, which is our expertise. That is automotive driveline, whether it be racing or aftermarket. We're not going out of our core competency just to be big. We're expanding and laterally, in these different directions. So we can be a complete driveline supplier. And no one's done that yet."

It's not like Lee woke up one morning and said to himself, "I want to build an empire and buy companies."

Lee is all about expanding his brand in his chosen field. 

"This was a goal I had some years ago," Lee said. "I first had to build up McLeod to where it is today to be able to support acquisitions in other areas of aftermarket. And we've done that. It's been a long, hard road. 

"I have a great team behind me that helps us get here. It's not just me, my vice president Bob Scheid, Greg Samuels down at FTI, all the guys at Silver Sport Transmissions. I mean, it takes a team to do this and without the people, you don't have a business. So we're not just acquiring businesses just to acquire; we're actually assembling a team of people that are the best in the industry. That's the goal. I'm the coach, and I'm just assembling the All-Star team."

Lee's drag racing experience goes back some decades, but his business acumen goes back even further. He got his start in the securities industry at the Philadelphia Stock Exchange as well as other broker-dealers. 

"The reason I got into the automotive aftermarket is because I wanted to drag race more," Lee admitted. "Working at the stock exchange cut into my drag racing time. It wasn't my passion. My passion was drag racing. So it kind of grew from just being a car guy and a drag racer just wanting to be able to afford to come out here and race a nitro Funny Car."

What many don't know about Lee, is in addition to being a Funny Car racer and shrewd businessman is that he also owns a law degree. 

"Just being in the securities industry, having a finance and legal background are the tools that you need to succeed in that industry," Lee said. "But those tools are now helping me succeed as an entrepreneur."

Those who have raced Lee understand he's a competitive streak a mile long. In business, the streak might just be a mile-and-a-half.

"Whether I'm racing one of my competitors out here in my nitro funny car, or one of my competitors in the industry, it's the same," Lee explained. "I have just as much fun beating a competitor in business as I do in drag racing."

Just to think a little over four years ago, Lee should have been after suffering the most deadly of all heart attacks - the widowmaker. As Lee sees it, he's gambling with house money these days. 

Three years later, he was back driving a fuel Funny Car. 

"I never lost the drive," Lee admitted. "I guess since the heart attack, I even got more drive because you realize you only have one chance at this thing we call life. So I want to make the best of it."