John Lee Paul Jr. (February 19, 1960 – December 29, 2020) was an American racing driver. 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. 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. In 1979, he took part in SCCA National Formula Ford races, and made the SCCA National Championship Runoffs.
Pauls 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.
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. 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'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 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.
At the beginning of 1983 Paul Sr. shot federal witness Stephen Caron, who would testify about Paul's illegal activities. After finishing second in the Grand Prix of Miami in a JLP Racing Lola, the team would be dismantled following his father's disappearance. Paul Jr. was hired by Henn's Swap Shop Racing for both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Road America Pabst 500 but these resulted in two DNFs.
Away from IMSA, Paul tried his hand at CART racing, winning the 1983 Michigan 500 in only his fourth Indycar start. After leading 66 of the 250 laps aboard the VDS Associates's Penske PC10, he passed Rick Mears on the last lap and took the checkered flag seconds later as Mears spun and crashed behind him. With a second place in the Caesars Palace Grand Prix (Las Vegas) and a further two third places, he would go on to finish 8th in points in 1983. Meanwhile, another new series, another victory first time out. This time in the Trans-Am series, he won for DeAtley Motorsports at Trois-Rivières.
In 1984, Paul finished second in the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jean Rondeau in a Preston Henn's T-Bird Swap Shop Porsche 956. He also finished second in the Six Hours of Watkins Glen, this time driving with Bruce Leven in his Bayside Disposal Racing Porsche 962. After this race, he was offered a seat alongside John Morton, by Conte Racing. Apart from an eighth place in Road America, Paul and Morton did not finish any races aboard the March-Chevrolet 84G. The CART scene did not fare much better. Although he entered nine of the sixteen races, this was for four different teams. The best result was a third-place in the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, for Provimi Veal Racing, in their March-Cosworth 84C.
Paul Sr. was finally indicted, tried, and convicted, in 1985. Paul Jr. started the season with Conte Racing, who had switched to Buick engines, but these proved to be unreliable. In total, he had 11 DNFs in 11 IMSA starts. After wrecking his AMI Racing March-Cosworth 85C in Indianapolis 500, he would finish only one race, the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix in 17th.
Early in 1986, Paul broke his string of seventeen IMSA DNFs by finishing second at Road Atlanta alongside Whitney Ganz for RC Buick Hawk, in their March-Buick 85G.
Following his release from prison in October 1988, Paul returned to racing in 1989. In CART, he only drove in the Indianapolis 500 from 1990 to 1994, but he made his comeback in IMSA. His first season back he drove in six races for five teams. The best result was a fourth place in the Grand Prix of San Antonio for Momo/Gebhardt Racing.
A full-time return to sportscar racing was possible in 1990, when he was offered a ride by Jim Busby, who had entered a Nissan GTP ZX-Turbo. In only his second race for the team, Paul and Kevin Cogan were on the podium after taking second place in the Grand Prix of Miami. Following a fifth place in Sebring, the Nissan was maintained by Seabrooke Racing. He ended the season with two second places in the World Challenge of Tampa and Grand Prix of Greater San Diego (Del Mar). His reward was eighth in the overall standings, but as he found, a lot of things had changed in these four seasons he missed. Full factory supported teams like Tom Walkinshaw Racing (Jaguar), Electramotive (Nissan) and All American Racers (Toyota) were now the ones to beat.
In 1991, Paul ran a short IMSA schedule, taking in just seven races. Although the bulk of these were with Gunnar Racing in their Gunnar 966, it was in Hotchkiss Racing's underpowered Spice-Pontiac SE90P that he earned a second place in the Grand Prix of Greater San Diego. Paul Jr. also drove two NASCAR Winston Cup Series races, in a Chevrolet for Team Ireland both in 1991, recording a best result of 16th in the Budweiser at The Glen.
During the 1992 season, Paul experienced his first ever GTU class win in Leitzinger Racing's Nissan 240SX, which he shared with Butch Leitzinger and David Loring, the 12 Hours of Sebring. He accepted an offer from Giampiero Moretti to race at Watkins Glen, where the pair finished sixth in a Joest Racing Porsche 962. Another outing for Hotchkiss Racing resulted in 8th in Laguna Seca in their Spice-Pontiac. This was followed by three more races with Moretti, but Paul ended the season by trying yet another car, the Intrepid RM-1, but this resulted in another DNF.