POMONA, Calif. (February 9, 2014)— After making history on Saturday afternoon for becoming the first woman ever to cross the ‘under four seconds’ threshold in Funny Car, one of NHRA’s four elite classes, driver Alexis DeJoria went into round one of eliminations of the 54th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals on Sunday morning armed with an extra boost of confidence.
With her record breaking 3.997-second run from Q3, the No. three qualified Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team had lance choice over No. 14 qualifier Gary Densham in round one. As the fifth pair up to run, the black, purple, and gold team chose the left lane. Both cars had trouble almost immediately off the line, and both drivers quickly reacted by pedaling the car down the 1,000-foot stretch. Unfortunately, Densham edged past DeJoria and was able to set off the win lights first, ending DeJoria’s day and banner weekend.
“Despite going out in the first round today, I’m happy with the progress our team has made,” said DeJoria, a third year Funny Car driver who calls Austin, Texas her home. “We qualified third, which is our highest qualifying position yet, so I’m really happy about that. We made our first three second run, I get to forever claim the title of ‘first woman to make a three-second pass in Funny Car,’ and we finally got to race our brand new Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry for the very first time. Unfortunately, things didn’t play out the way we had hoped this morning. We felt confident we were going to win that first round, but you just never know. Drag racing is a very humbling sport. Anything can happen. I tried to pedal it, but my car just wouldn’t hook up right and I saw Densham go past me. That was it for us today. On to the next, we’ll get ‘em in Phoenix.”
Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Patrón XO Cafe Toyota Camry Funny Car team compete next at the 30th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, Ariz., February 21-23. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADR_Nitro771, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria.
TV Schedule
Eliminations
February 9, 8PM-11PM EST
ESPN
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.