John Paul Jr.

John Lee Paul Jr. (February 19, 1960 – December 29, 2020) was an American racing driver.

For the Daytona race, they were partnered by the 1977 Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft Champion, Rolf Stommelen.

At Sebring, they overcame a gearbox failure in their 935 to win over the March 82G, led by the hard charging Bobby Rahal.

The Pauls' second team car was also on the podium.

More importantly, Paul Jr.'s win at Road Atlanta attracted Miller Brewing Company sponsorship for the remainder of the season.

He then switched to the Lola to win at Laguna Seca.

He teamed up again with his father in the 935 JLP-3 to win the Charlotte 500 km.

Outpowered by championship rival, John Fitzpatrick in Porsche 935K4, Paul Jr. drove a new Porsche 935 JLP-4 to a debut victory at Brainerd.

He scored another win at Portland, before swapping back to the older Porsche for the endurance races.

He drove the JLP-3 with his father to win the Mosport 6 Hours.

For the next endurance race, Paul was partnered with Mauricio de Narváez, and the pair finished second in Road America, behind the English pairing of Fitzpatrick and David Hobbs.

He was re-united with his father at Road Atlanta for the 500 km event.

Their last race together resulted in a second place in Pocono.

Paul Jr. had clinched the IMSA GT Championship at the age of 22, becoming IMSA's youngest ever GTP champion.

In 1979, he took part in SCCA National Formula Ford races, and made the SCCA National Championship Runoffs.

Paul Jr.'s career really launched in 1980, when he became part of JLP Racing's driver line-up.

His first race was at Coca-Cola 400 at Lime Rock.

Co-driving alongside his father in a Porsche 935, they won the second heat, and subsequently the race overall.

Junior had won the first IMSA race he entered.

He repeated this feat by winning the Road America Pabst 500 three months later.

With three second places, he would finish fourth in the final IMSA GTP standings.

During the 1981 season the Porsche team faced a new challenge from the Lola T600.

The Chevrolet-powered prototype with its better handling, driven by Englishman Brian Redman, quickly dominated the IMSA Championship.

During the season, it became clear that only Junior could challenge for race victories, so Senior became JLP Racing's team manager, while Junior did the driving.

Senior then only co-drove in the endurance races.

Despite having the Lola, the Pauls won a rain-shortened race at Pocono in their Porsche 935 JLP-3.

Using the same 935, Junior would go on to win the Daytona finale.

He competed in CART and the Indy Racing League competitions, but primarily in IMSA GT Championship, winning the title in 1982.

During his career, Paul was a twice winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, the first of these was while co-driving with his father, John Paul Sr.

A few weeks later, the pair won the 1982 12 Hours of Sebring.

The Pauls started the 1982 season with back-to-back wins in the US classic endurance races, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Paul also triumphed in another major U.S. race, the 1983 Michigan 500.

Beside racing with his father, Paul also joined his father in criminal activities, in particular a drug smuggling operation.

In May 1986, Paul Jr. received a five-year sentence for racketeering, with the drug charges dropped.

Paul Sr. was found guilty, served time for a number of crimes, and disappeared in 2001.

After graduating from high school, Paul Jr. started working for his father's team, JLP Racing, learning the ins and outs of what a racing organization was.

He became some kind of jack-of-all-trades within the team.

As Paul Jr. started to learn about engines, his father decided his son needed to go to a racing school.

He was enrolled at the Skip Barber Racing School, but Paul Jr. was deemed to be hopeless.

Despite this setback, Paul Sr. bought his son a new Van Diemen Formula Ford.