CONCORD, N.C. (April 13, 2014)— It was another long Sunday of going rounds for Alexis DeJoria and the Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team at the infamous 5th annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. Just five races into the 24-race NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series, and the XO Cafe team found themselves, for the third time this year, pulling up to the starting line for the Final round earlier today.
The No. 9 qualified Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry was quick and consistent during the first two rounds of the day, running a 4.089-seconds at 307.72-mph in E1, the lowest the lowest ET of the quad, and a 4.087-sec at 310.84-mph in E2, the lowest ET of the session. On her way to the Final round DeJoria beat out Ron Capps, Blake Alexander, and teammate Del Worsham.
The Final round found DeJoria squaring off against John Force, Tim Wilkerson, and Robert Hight, who she’s met at the Finals twice already this year with DeJoria coming out the victor both times. Unfortunately, Hight was able to overcome his 0-4 record against DeJoria today as he raced his way to victory. Force powered his car to the runner up spot, placing the XO Cafe team in third overall.
“We had a good outing at Four-Wide this year. This was the best our team has ever done here. We had some consistent runs throughout the weekend, and were able to pick up four bonus points during qualifying. Those points really add up,” said the No. 3 ranked Austin, Texas based driver, who was able to put even more distance between herself and the fourth ranked driver this weekend, widening the gap by nearly 100 points. “Ever since Phoenix, we’ve been in the ‘Top Three,’ and it was nice to be able to go rounds and continue to solidify our position as one of the top Funny Car teams.”
“Although we didn’t win, it was a good weekend for the Kalitta camp overall. It was really exciting to have three of our cars in the Finals today. We’re all looking forward to Houston and keeping this momentum going.”
Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team compete next at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas, April 25—27. For more information please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADR_Nitro771, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria.
TV Schedule
Eliminations
April 13, 8PM-11PM 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.