Forbes Magazine – Alexis DeJoria could have done anything with her life. The daughter of billionaire John Paul DeJoria, her world was a wide-open canvas. She could have gone into one of the family businesses – Paul Mitchell hair care products or Tequila Patron. Instead DeJoria, 39 and the mother of a 14-year-old daughter, chose drag racing.
She is one of just a handful of women on the NHRA circuit, others being the Force sisters, who routinely compete with, and beat, men at over 300 mph in 10,000 horsepower cars, and do so without a handicap.
Alexis DeJoria competes in NHRA drag racing with her Tequila Parton Funny Car.
Don’t let DeJoria’s colorful tattoos – she has several of them – fool you. She is incredibly articulate and sweet, but also a fierce competitor. At the 2014 U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, NHRA’s crown jewel, she drove her Tequila Patron Toyota Funny Car dragster to the championship, beating legend John Force in the finals. Her time for 1,000 feet of asphalt: 4.038 seconds with a top speed just north of 310 mph. Read Full Story