ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (June 7, 2015)— It was a strong day for Alexis DeJoria and the Patrón XO Cafe Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car team as they raced to their first runner-up finish of 2015 at the 46th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals.
DeJoria’s final round appearance marked the sixth of her Funny Car career. The Patrón team had one of the most consistent cars on Sunday, making quick, clean passes down the track all throughout the day.
The No. 10 qualified DeJoria defeated No. 7 qualifier Jack Beckman in round one of eliminations with a 4.089-second pass, and Dom Lagana in round two with a 4.168-sec run. The semi-final round found DeJoria squaring off against her teammate Del Worsham in the ‘battle of the Kalitta Camrys.’ Although he had the advantage off of the starting line, DeJoria bested Worsham with a run of 4.120 to his competitive 4.138-sec pass.
In the final round, the fourth year Funny Car competitor drew reigning World Champion and current points leader Matt Hagan. The two launched off of the starting line with nearly identical reaction times (0.079 versus Hagan’s 0.074), and were side-by-side the entire length of the track. It was an exciting race but unfortunately DeJoria just barely missed setting off the win light with her 4.138-sec pass to his 4.132.
“What a day. I’m just beside myself right now,” said DeJoria a three-time Funny Car winner. “To do this well at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals is awesome. I’ve never won in Englishtown and I’ve definitely never made it to the finals here, so it feels good.”
“I’ve really got to give it up to my team- they’re the main reason we went so far today. They’re such an excellent group and they’ve really got my back. I love these guys like a family. I wasn’t the greatest on my reaction times every round, but when it mattered, I really pulled it off. It was a hell of a final against Matt Hagan. I didn’t give anything up on the starting line, that’s for sure, and I’m leaving Englishtown pretty stoked.”
Although she missed putting her Patrón Toyota Camry in the Winners Circle by just a few thousandths of a second, advancing to the final round enabled the Patrón team to gain sixty valuable points. Other than two semi-final finishes over the course of the first eight races, the team has struggled to get its footing in 2015, and has sat at the bottom of the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship points ranking throughout most of the season. In fact, they entered Sunday of the Toyota NHRA Summernationals in the No. 10 spot with only a one-point advantage above the No. 11th ranked driver. Their success on race day allowed them to move up to the 8th spot, and put much needed points on the board in an ultra-competitive Funny Car class.
“We picked up quite a few points this weekend, and we’re starting to get back into the swing things so I’m really glad we’re back at it up in Epping next weekend.”
The eighth ranked Patrón XO Cafe Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car team leaves Old Bridge Township Raceway with 487 points. They compete next at the 3rd annual NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H., June 12-14. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADRnhra, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria
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 racecar driver, competing in the nitro Funny Car class on the Kalitta Motorsports team. Alexis drives the Patrόn XO Cafe Incendio-sponsored 2015 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.