SANTA MONICA, Calif. (April 22, 2014)— With two wins, three final round appearances, and a history-making run under her belt, Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team are looking to keep the momentum rolling this weekend at the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals in Houston, Texas.
“We’re all confident and the vibe is really good, but we’re not trying to get ahead of ourselves,” said DeJoria, who has solidly held on to the No. 3 spot in the NHRA Mello Yello rankings for the past two months. “We go into each race weekend taking it one run at a time. We hope to qualify well so we can have the advantage of lane choice in the first round on Sunday, and then from there, tackle each round one by one. I’ve said it a hundred times, but it’s so true: Drag racing is a very humbling sport. You can be on top one race, and not even qualify the next. We’re just staying focused and not taking any of our competitors lightly- this class is extremely competitive and it’s important that we continue to do well and put more points between us and everybody else. Last year we went to the semifinals in Houston, and we’re looking to go at least that far this Sunday. As long as we remain consistent, I’m confident we can get this Patrón XO Cafe hot rod in the Winners Circle at Royal Purple Raceway.”
“This weekend will be especially exciting because my husband Jesse, who is completely hands on with our car and is a mainstay in our pit, helping out in any way he can, will be spending a little less time in our pit and a little more in our teammate J.R. Todd’s pit. His company, Jesse James Firearms Unlimited, is the premiere sponsor on J.R.’s Top Fuel dragster at this event, so there is a chance that both Jesse and I could win the Wallys in both Funny Car and Top Fuel in Houston. Of course, I’d be so happy if any of the Kalitta cars won this weekend, but it would be so amazing if both my husband and I won together.”
Before she gets in the cockpit of her Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry, DeJoria, along with J.R. Todd, will be visiting the Texas Children’s Hospital on Thursday afternoon. “I’m really looking forward to visiting the hospital,” said DeJoria, a mother of three. “I’ve visited children’s hospitals in the past and it’s just such an amazing and rewarding feeling, knowing that you were able to put a smile on the kids’ faces. We’ll have a bunch of race-themed goodies in tow, and I can’t wait to surprise the children with them. As a professional racer, I’m kept busy with sponsor obligations, media appearances, trying to balance my home and work life, but anytime I can take time out of my schedule to visit a facility like Texas Children’s Hospital, I jump at the chance to do so. These kids are so amazing, and anything I can do to help make their hospital stay that much better, I’ll do.”
Qualifying for the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals begins at 4:30PM on Friday. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADR_Nitro771, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria.
TV Schedule
Qualifying
April 26, 6PM-8PM EST
ESPN2
Eliminations
April 27, 7PM-10PM 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.