Lee Hurley is a native of Ensley, Alabama near Birmingham. Following his graduation from Ensley High School (majoring in machine shop), Lee enlisted in the U.S. Army and attended basic training at Ft. Hood, Texas. At Ft. Rucker, Alabama he met Martha Jo Tomberlin, who would become his wife and the mother of his two daughters. Lee did a 15-month Far East tour as a helicopter maintenance instructor. Back in Birmingham, Lee worked at automobile dealerships for five years, joined Taylor Speed Sports (a high-performance machine shop) for two years, and spent two years with Bobby Allison Racing, designing and building engines and chasis components. In 1971, he opened HESCO which has now grown to 21 employees and offers a full machine shop, an engine stand dyno, boat dyno and a chassis dyno.

Lee's accomplishments include the following:

• Fielded four AMC IMSA RS sedans for independent drivers from 1975 to 1977. Had 13 Daytona winning engines with these cars.
• Built engines for Neil Bonnet winning two NASCAR championships.
• Prepared and drove a car and a truck which both set world records at Talladega Speedway in 1976. These records still stand today. The truck is on display at the Talladega Speedway Museum.
• Built engines three years for Archer Brothers Racing SCCA Race trucks, winning the Manufacturer's Championship twice.
• Prepared engines for Chrysler Motor Sports for use in desert racing, stadium racing and NASCAR Dash series.
• Engine consultant for Jeep Truck Engineering's racing programs.
• Does research and development for Chrysler and prepares the Jeep Multiport Fuel Injection Kits marketed through Chrysler.
• Hosted 1-hour call-in radio show CarTech for several years & was known as the original "Car Doc".