TOPEKA, Kan. (May 25, 2014)— After qualifying fifth in the competitive 16-car Funny Car field, Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry team fell to No. 12 qualifier Tommy Johnson Jr. in the first round of eliminations at the NHRA Kansas Nationals on Sunday morning.
The Patrón XO Cafe team made their best pass of the weekend in the third round of qualifying, running a 4.065-second at 314.46-mph, picking up two bonus points for 2nd lowest ET of the round. They also earned a bonus point during Q1 with their 4.082-sec run, the 3rd quickest of the session.
With the advantage of lane choice, the Patrón team pulled up to the line, kicking off the first round of Funny Car eliminations. The tree lit up and Johnson was first off the line, running a 4.099-sec versus DeJoria’s 4.098; Johnson’s holeshot win was the end to the XO Cafe team’s day at Heartland Park.
“We did fairly well during qualifying and picked up some more bonus points, but it was another first round loss for us today, and the only one to blame is myself,” said a disappointed DeJoria. “I let Tommy beat me off the line, so that was the end of our day,” she said speaking of her 0.146-second reaction time versus Johnson’s 0.090.
The team will leave Topeka, Kan. on Monday and travel on to Englishtown, N.J. for the final race of a string of three back-to-back races. “Going on to Englishtown, it’s a big race for us so I’m going to change some things- whatever it takes. This is unacceptable for someone in my position to be cutting lights like this. I let my team down and there’s no excuse for that.”
The Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team competes next at the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals in Englishtown, N.J., May 30-June 1. They will enter the event ranked third with the 509 points, and will be looking to increase the point lead between themselves and their trailing competitors. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADR_Nitro771, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria.
TV Schedule
Eliminations
May 25, 10PM-1AM 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.