ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 1, 2014)— A 4.027-second at 314.31-mph Q2 run earned Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry team a spot in the ‘quick half’ of the ultra-competitive Funny Car field at the 45th annual Toyota NHRA SummerNationals in Englishtown, N.J. With one of the quickest Sunday lineups of the season, which included two 3.9-second runs, DeJoria’s 4.027 put her in the No. 6 qualifying spot and gave her the advantage of lane choice over No. 11 qualifier Jeff Arend on Sunday morning.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky over Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, and the air temperature was much warmer than the previous two qualifying days. The hotter temps proved troublesome for many of the top-ranked teams, but it was no problem for the Tommy DeLago/Glen Huszar-lead XO Cafe team. DeJoria powered her purple, gold and matte-black Toyota Camry to a stout 4.064-sec at 311.56-mph pass- the quickest run of the session.
Round two found DeJoria in a grudge match against Robert Hight. Going into the round, she had a four-to-one record over Hight. Two of their matchups came during the Phoenix and Vegas final rounds with DeJoria coming out the victor, but Hight had outrun her at their most recent matchup in Houston. In a nail-biter of a race, Hight took the win again this Sunday with his 4.086 to her 4.107- which held up to be the two quickest ET’s of round two.
“Overall, we had a pretty good outing here at the Toyota NHRA SummerNationals in Englishtown,” said DeJoria, who has been ranked third in the Funny Car points standings since February’s Phoenix race. “We qualified well, and ran some good numbers. Today we definitely fought that hot track, but we did excellent in the first round and got top ET of the session.”
“We went out there second round, and the track was a little bit hotter. Right off the line, the car tried to spin the tires, but it just kept going and made a good run. We had the second quickest run of the session, but Robert had the first, so that was it for us. Drag racing is truly a ‘right place, at the right time’ kind of sport. Unfortunately, this time we got outran, and that was the end of our day.”
DeJoria and the Patrón XO Cafe team have a week off before a grueling four-in-a-row stretch. “We’re going to take this next week off, chill, unwind and get ready for Bristol.” The four race swing kicks off with the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. The team will enter the event ranked 3rd with 564 points. For more information please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADR_Nitro771, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria.
TV Schedule
Eliminations
June 1, 4PM-7PM 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.