LAS VEGAS, Nev. (November 2, 2014)— After qualifying in the No. 9 spot Alexis DeJoria and the Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team were set to square off against No. 8 qualifier Tommy Johnson Jr. en route to a ‘2014 Vegas Sweep.’
DeJoria, the reigning Las Vegas Motor Speedway NHRA Funny Car champion (April 2014), made three respectable runs throughout the weekend’s four qualifying attempts, and was hoping to put her 10,000-horsepower ‘Go Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness’ Toyota Camry back in the Vegas Winner’s Circle.
Unfortunately, her hopes were cut short as she fell to Johnson Jr. in round one of eliminations on Sunday morning. Both DeJoria and Johnson Jr. made good runs, with DeJoria running a 4.088 and Johnson Jr. crossing the stripe in 4.104-seconds, but Johnson was quicker off the line and his reaction time advantage earned him the holeshot win.
“It happens, that’s all I can really say about that,” said a disappointed DeJoria, adding “I just want to thank my team for giving me a great car. I’ll just have to turn it around in Pomona.”
Although DeJoria was frustrated by the outcome of the race weekend, she couldn’t be happier when it came to the turnout of the ‘Free Mammograms for the Fans’ program presented by Alexis DeJoria Racing, now in its second year. The program provides free mammograms to any female ticketholder over the age of 40, regardless of health insurance status. “Once again, we came out to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Nevada Health Centers’ mammovan in an effort to provide free mammograms to the women of the racing community, and beyond. The program was a huge success and we surpassed what we did last year. That in it of itself is a win.”
Though the day has ended for DeJoria, the mammovan will continue to remain open until the final round of nitro eliminations so a final count is not yet available. As of second round of eliminations, more than 120 mammograms had been performed over the course of the three day race weekend.
A separate ‘Free Mammograms for the Fans’ press release to follow. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADR_Nitro771, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria.
TV Schedule
Eliminations
November 2, 6PM-9PM 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.