Alexis DeJoria Looks Ahead to Charlotte After Maple Grove Early Exit

READING, PA – NHRA Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria leaves Maple Grove Raceway with her Top 10 position intact following a first-round exit Sunday morning at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals. DeJoria and her DC Motorsports team are now shifting their focus to the second race of the six-race Countdown to the Championship.

DeJoria, a six-time Funny Car event winner, qualified her Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra tenth with a 3.966 E.T. at 301.47 MPH recorded in the second of three qualifying sessions. That set up a first-round matchup with fellow Countdown contender Tim Wilkerson, who qualified No. 7. A tense side-by-side battle followed, with DeJoria and tuners Del Worsham and Nicky Boninfante firing off a solid 3.924 at 330.31-mph pass, but it wasn’t quite enough to capture the win as Wilkerson was able to edge past with his slightly-quicker 3.922 E.T.

“Unfortunate first-round loss at the first race of the Countdown to the Championship,” said DeJoria, who’s appearing in her fifth Countdown. “We’ve made some progress this weekend with our car, but we’re going to stay and test because we want to get a little bit more information on what we found this weekend, and get ourselves ready for Charlotte.”

Now ninth in points, DeJoria and the Bandero Premium Tequila team will chase their first win of the season in just a few days at the Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals, Sept. 23-25, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.

Qualified: No. 10 (3.966 E.T. at 301.47 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.924 E.T. at 330.31 MPH defeated by Tim Wilkerson 3.922 E.T. at 331.36 MPH