NORWALK, Ohio (July 5, 2015)— The Patrón XO Cafe Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car team qualified twelfth for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals after struggling to get down the track during three out of the four qualifying sessions.
While their 4.097-second run from the first qualifying round initially posted a position in the top half of the field, the unique schedule of the weekend allowed the stars of the NHRA two night time runs, offering team’s two attempts to make a ‘hero run’ in ideal track conditions. By the end of the four qualifying rounds, the Patrón team, piloted by Alexis DeJoria, had been bumped back to the No. 12 spot after not being able to improve upon their first round performance.
From the twelfth position, DeJoria faced No. 5 qualifier Tommy Johnson Jr. in the opening Funny Car session of race day. The two were previously one-to-one in competition. DeJoria launched hard off the line and powered her Toyota to her weekend-best elapsed time of 4.090, defeating Johnson’s 5.146.
After advancing beyond the first round, the Patrón team was setup to run opposite their Kalitta Motorsports Toyota Camry teammates in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately for the Patrón team, the DHL Camry would setoff the win light after the Patrón car smoked the tires early into the run.
Despite the early exit, DeJoria, a three-time Funny Car winner, remains optimistic about the team’s current tenth place ranking in the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship points system.
“It’s still too soon to worry about the Countdown. We definitely needed to go rounds and get points today, but we’re in the process of figuring some things out right now. We’ll go out there and make a couple of good runs, and then go out and shake or smoke the tires, so we’re just trying to figure out what’s going on but I’m going to keep working on my lights and hopefully we’ll find consistency.”
The Patrón XO Cafe Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car team leaves Summit Motorsports Park with 626 points and has just a few days back at the Kalitta Motorsports race shop before heading to Joliet, Ill. for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals, July 10-12. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com, Follow Us on Twitter @ADRnhra, or Like Us on Facebook Alexis DeJoria
Eliminations:
Round One: 4.090 ET at 312.57 MPH def. Tommy Johnson Jr. 5.146 ET at 157.14 MPH
Round Two: 9.558 ET at 81.34 MPH def. by Del Worsham 4.145 ET at 306.67 MPH
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.