Morrison, Colo. (July 26, 2015)— The stage was set for an epic ‘mile high’ matchup on Sunday morning at the 36th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. After qualifying seventh, Alexis DeJoria faced No. 10 qualifier Courtney Force in the first round of eliminations at Bandimere Speedway.
What was billed as ESPN’s ‘Marquee Matchup’ featured the Funny Car class’ two female competitors. DeJoria, pilot of the Patrón XO Cafe Incendio Toyota Camry entered the event ranked tenth in the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship points ranking, while C. Force was hot on her heels in 11th, with just an 11-point margin separating them. The eventual round winner would claim the tenth spot with an opportunity to continue to put more points on the board. With just five races until the cutoff to make a run at the Mello Yello Funny Car Championship, it was important for both to use Sunday at Denver to make up critical ground.
Fortunately, the Patrón team would go on to win the round after Force stepped on the throttle early, setting off the red light, disqualifying her team. The round win not only meant an additional twenty points for DeJoria and the Patrón XO Cafe Incendio team, but also enabled them to move up a position when ninth ranked Robert Hight fell in the first round. He had previously held a 12-point advantage over DeJoria.
DeJoria would meet Tim Wilkerson in the second round. The two had previously competed head-to-head four times prior with Wilkerson emerging the victor each time. That would change on Sunday when DeJoria’s quick reaction time (0.065 vs. Wilkerson’s 0.091) coupled with a solid run of 4.248-seconds at 292.84-mph would lead the Patrón team onto victory, and to the semi-final round.
The Patrón team faced Jack Beckman in their fourth semi-final round appearance of the season. Unfortunately, Team Patrón’s day would end with the semis when DeJoria got a bit overeager and hit the gas before the tree came down.
Despite not being able to make a run for the Denver Wally, DeJoria and the Patrón XO Cafe Incendio team are pleased with how the weekend played out. Not only were they able to move up from tenth to ninth in the points ranking, they were able to put some distance between themselves and C. Force and Hight- the two other drivers vying for that tenth and final spot.
“There’s absolutely nothing good about losing, but I’d much rather lose by trying too hard than by practically being asleep at the wheel and cutting a bad light,” said DeJoria. “We were on our game this weekend. It was a tough track- it was hot, it was rainy, it was everything. The good news is, I feel like I’m back on my game.”
“The next race is Sonoma and we do really well in Sonoma. This is the best I’ve done in Denver, so I’m happy about that, but bummed out we couldn’t take it all the way today.
From Denver, the stars of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series will travel to Sonoma, Calif. where they will compete at the 28th annual NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Although happy to have a little breathing room after Sunday, it is critical for the Incendio team to continue to build on this success in order to safely secure their spot in the Countdown. They will have that opportunity at Sonoma Raceway, July 31-August 2. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADRnhra, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria
Eliminations:
- Round One: 4.330 ET at 271.52 MPH def. Courtney Force 4.221 ET at 304.39 MPH (Red Lit)
- Round Two: 4.248 ET at 292.84 MPH def. Tim Wilkerson 4.427 ET at 254.23 MPH
- Round Three: 4.269 ET at 283.55 MPH (Red Lit) def. by 4.184 ET at 295.40 MPH
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 racecar driver, competing in the nitro Funny Car class on the Kalitta Motorsports team. Alexis drives the Patrόn XO Cafe Incendio-sponsored 2015 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.