CONCORD, N.C. (September 13, 2014) — Coming off of their tremendous Indy win, Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team came into Charlotte, the first event of the six race Countdown to the Championship playoff series, armed with a renewed confidence. The fourth ranked XO Cafe team, led by co-crew chiefs Tommy DeLago and Glen Huszar, will kick off the Countdown in the No. 1 qualifying spot as they head into race day Sunday morning.
After earning three bonus points for their 4.100-second run during Q3, DeJoria and team watched car after car race down the 1,000-foot dragstrip in Q4, attempting to knock them from the top spot- none of them successful. As they were in the last pairing to run in Q4, the team knew that as long as the car in the lane next to them didn’t outrun their 4.100, they’d have their No. 1 spot locked up. DeJoria rolled her matte black, gold and purple Toyota Camry up for the fourth and final round, launched hard off the line and wowed the crowd with a 4.090-sec pass. Not only was her 4.090 the best of the session earning her another three bonus points, but it was also the best of the event.
“It’s such an incredible feeling to come off of our Indy win and now in the first race of the Countdown, go out and run number one qualifier,” said DeJoria, the reigning US Nationals champ, and quickest woman in Funny Car history. “This builds confidence within the team going into race day. We have a consistent car and hopefully we can make it down the track four times tomorrow. Tommy and the guys have such a good handle on our XO Cafe Toyota Camry and even missing that one run yesterday, we had no problem bouncing back and recovering today,” she said, referring to the team’s decision to opt out of Q2 after discovering a fuel pump leak in the staging lanes.
With the advantage of six bonus points, Team Tequila goes into Sunday just two points shy of third place. This is the team’s first time to qualify for the Top Ten Countdown to the Championship in their three year career.
“Every point counts and it feels good to start the Countdown with six bonus points. We haven’t always done the best in qualifying but managed to perform on race day and hopefully we can do that again tomorrow.”
Charlotte marks Alexis DeJoria’s career second No. 1 qualifier; her first was in Atlanta earlier this season. DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team will race No. 16 qualifier Dave Richards in round one of eliminations at the Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals on Sunday, September 14. First round begins at 12PM EST. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADR_Nitro771, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria.
TV Coverage
Qualifying
September 14, 2AM-3:30AM EST
ESPN2
Eliminations
September 14, 8:30PM-11:30PM EST
ESPN2
About Alexis DeJoria
Alexis DeJoria, daughter of the famed John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems and proud owner of Tequila Patrόn, is a professional NHRA race car driver, competing in the nitro Funny Car class on the Kalitta Motorsports team. Alexis drives the Patrόn XO Cafe-sponsored 2014 Toyota Camry. Alexis, who had all the opportunity in the world to pursue any type of career, felt strongly about following her passion, and her need for adrenaline drove her to pursue the unlikely profession of auto-racing. The determination to ‘blaze her own trail’ continues to drive her and push her to higher levels in male dominated sport of drag racing.
About Kalitta Motorsports
Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. For more than 50 years, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with five world championships and over 50 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.