BRAINERD, Minn. (August 23, 2015) – Alexis DeJoria, driver of the Patrón XO Café Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car, was stout in qualifying. She reset both of her career records in the final qualifying opportunity on Saturday. Tommy DeLago tuned DeJoria to a 3.946 second pass at 321.88 to make her the fourth quickest driver and quickest woman in NHRA history.
DeJoria’s first opponent was Brian Stewart. Stewart, a local driver that campaigns a part-time NHRA schedule, was able to get around DeJoria after her Toyota Camry smoked the tires almost instantly. She drove hard trying to get back around a pedal-smoking Stewart, but the Toyota Camry never did fully get going again.
“We started off the weekend pretty good with our 3.946, which is my personal record and also in the big record books, which is good,” said DeJoria. “Unfortunately the round win that we really needed was first round and it was a wild ride. There was no glue down there. I was trying to keep it in the groove and pedal it. We smoked them at the hit, so it was difficult to rebound from something like that. Courtney went out and did it two cars in front of me, and we went out and got in trouble too. That thing just would not stay straight, and I ended up tagging the wall a little bit and that was the end of our day. Good thing is we are going to stay in the tenth position heading to Indy.”
DeJoria holds 75 points over Courtney Force for the final spot in the Countdown for the Championship heading into the U.S. Nationals, a race she won last season.
After 17 races, Team Kalitta nitro race cars have won three events, advanced to eight final rounds and earned three no.1 qualifying positions. Kalitta Motorsports will make the drive back to Ypsilanti, Mich., prior to heading to Indianapolis to participate in the U.S. Nationals Open Test on Thursday.
Alexis DeJoria – Driver of the Patrón XO Café Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car:
No. 3 Qualifier (3.946 sec., 321.88 mph)
E1: DeJoria defeated by Stewart – 8.710 sec., 94.97 mph to 6.487 sec., 168.14 mph
Konnekt with Kalitta Motorsports:
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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.
Del Worsham drives the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car for Team Kalitta. Alexis DeJoria pilots the Tequila Patrón XO Café Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car. J.R. Todd drives the Red Line Oil Top Fuel dragster while Connie’s nephew, Doug Kalitta, pilots the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as head tuner for all Team Kalitta entries. He is assisted by co-crew chiefs Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante on the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car, by Tommy DeLago and Glen Huszar on the Tequila Patrón XO Café Incendio Toyota Camry Funny Car, and by Jim Oberhofer on the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster. Connie serves as crew chief on the Red Line Oil Top Fuel dragster.
Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include Justice Brothers, Kalitta Air, Optima Batteries, Patrón XO Café Incendio, Phoenix Fuel Converter, Red Line Oil, SealMaster, Summit Racing Equipment, Technicoat Companies, TMS Titanium, Toyota and Ziebart.