LAS VEGAS – Fresh off a runner-up finish from the NHRA Arizona Nationals one week prior, Alexis DeJoria carried the momentum from her rebound weekend into The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as she pursued a first four-wide win. The two-time winner at The Strip began eliminations for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals from the No. 9 position before advancing to the quarterfinals to gain a position in the Funny Car point standings.

DeJoria qualified for the first of two consecutive four-wide events on the strength of her 3.967-second at 317.72 MPH pass, which she recorded aboard the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra during the third round of qualifying. In her first elimination quad on race day, DeJoria faced Austin Prock, Blake Alexander, and Jeff Diehl. The six-time national event winner was quick on the throttle and took her Bandero Supra to the finish line stripe in 3.945 seconds to advance alongside Prock, her final-round opponent from the Phoenix-area race. Round two featured more stout competition for DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team. In addition to Prock, she found herself squaring off against Bob Tasca and Chad Green as the four speedsters battled for a spot in the final elimination quad. Continue reading →

CHANDLER, AZ – In an impressive display of resilience, Alexis DeJoria powered her Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car to a runner-up finish from the No. 15 qualifying position this weekend at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park. Among a stacked Funny Car field featuring some of the most talented drivers on the planet, DeJoria defeated Bob Tasca III, Bobby Bode, and Blake Alexander before ceding the event victory to Austin Prock in the final round.

“What a way to turn it around,” said DeJoria. “This is a complete ‘rags to riches’ event for us. We had a hard time qualifying, had a hard time getting it down the race track. To tell you that I thought we were going to make it to the finals today, was not very likely. But anything can happen if you just stay focused and have faith, and I have the utmost faith in my team. I know what we’re capable of; we’ve done it before. It was a great way to come back from not being able to get down the race track.”

After a frustrating outing at the previous event in Pomona, California, where she did not qualify, DeJoria was eager for redemption. As her 12,000-horsepower Funny Car roared to life for the first qualifying pass on Friday evening, tire shake forced her to shut off early. Her second qualifying attempt on Saturday showed marginal improvement but was not enough to get into the show.

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GAINESVILLE, FL – Alexis DeJoria and the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team made four strong runs out of five during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season-opener at Gainesville Raceway. The team’s solid outing at the 55th annual Gatornationals has them feeling confident in their car and looking forward to continued success throughout the season as DeJoria attempts to become NHRA’s first female Funny Car world champion.

DeJoria began her 11th season driving a nitromethane-powered Funny Car by unloading with a 3.953-second E.T. during the weekend’s opening qualifying round to place her in the provisional No. 6 spot. On Friday night, crew chief Del Worsham took advantage of the conditions and sent DeJoria’s machine down the track in 3.900 seconds at 327.74 MPH.

Feeling good about their performance so far, DeJoria was eager to have two more shots at the track before fields were set for Sunday’s elimination show. After waiting out the rain on Saturday, DeJoria, now occupying the seventh position, returned to the starting line for Q3 but lost traction early into the run. Just as teams were pulling up for the final qualifying run of the weekend, the skies opened up again, and racing was canceled for the remainder of the evening.

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BRADENTON, FL – Alexis DeJoria and Del Worsham’s DC Motorsports team took to the track this week for the first time in 2024 to participate in the invitation-only SCAG Power Equipment PRO Superstar Shootout Presented by Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage in Bradenton, Florida.

Prior to the inaugural shootout-style event which saw nitro-powered NHRA teams compete for a $250,000 purse on Saturday afternoon, teams had an opportunity to make test runs before qualifying began on Thursday evening.

With several test passes under their belts, the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team had established a good baseline heading into the first round of qualifying. Under the lights at Bradenton Motorsports Park, DeJoria powered to a stout 3.893-second at 330.80 MPH pass to provisionally place fifth out of the 13 Funny Cars vying for a spot in the eight-car elimination field.

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LAS VEGAS – Alexis DeJoria has enjoyed a history of success at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway over the years, including a pair of wins and a No. 1 qualifier, and the three-time finalist in 2023 was hoping a little Las Vegas luck would help propel her to her first win of the year on Sunday at the NHRA Nevada Nationals.

DeJoria opened the race weekend by powering the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra to a solid 3.958-second run. In Friday’s second session, she improved upon her time, posting a 3.902 E.T. at 300.26 MPH to move into the top half of the field. Traction issues plagued DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team on Saturday, and by the time qualifying concluded at the series’ penultimate event, DeJoria had landed in the No. 8 spot. Starting from the quick half of the field for the 13th time in 20 events, DeJoria found herself facing Tim Wilkerson in the first round for the second consecutive race.

At the NHRA Fall Nationals near Dallas two weeks prior, DeJoria fell to Wilkerson during the opening round of eliminations, but on Sunday in Las Vegas, DeJoria was able to avenge the loss by clocking an impressive 3.923 E.T. to easily defeat her opponent who lost traction before suffering an explosion in the opposite lane. In the quarterfinals, DeJoria drew championship-chaser Robert Hight, who had impressed with a 3.816-second lap in the first round of eliminations. Crew chiefs Del Worsham and Nicky Boninfante had the car tuned up and were prepared to give Hight a run for his money, but a parts malfunction caused the Bandero machine to slow while Hight made a clean pass to advance.

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ENNIS, TX – Returning to the track where she made her professional debut 12 years prior, Austin, Texas resident Alexis DeJoria was looking

Texas NHRA FallNationals

to capture her first victory of the season in front of a hometown crowd on Sunday at the Texas Motorplex. DeJoria made two strong runs during qualifying to secure a spot in the top half of the Texas NHRA Fall Nationals Funny Car field, but a first-round exit during eliminations ended her chances at picking up a win at the Ennis, Texas facility located outside of Dallas.

Aboard the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra, DeJoria opened qualifying with a conservative 3.951-second baseline pass to start the weekend. While the team struggled in Friday night’s ‘field-setting’ session, DeJoria came back strong in the fourth and final qualifying round on Saturday evening, clocking a 3.876 E.T. at 330.03 MPH to move up into the quick-half of the field, landing in the No. 8 position.

Facing No. 9 qualifier Tim Wilkerson in what was billed as NHRA’s ‘Funny Car marquee match-up’ during round one of eliminations on Sunday, DeJoria was looking to extend her 12-8 record over her opponent. Previously, DeJoria and Wilkerson had faced each other 13 times in the first round with DeJoria having a winning 7-6 record, but Wilkerson was able to even the score when traction issues plagued DeJoria early into the run. While her opponent suffered traction problems himself, he had enough of a lead over DeJoria that he was able to cross the finish line first, posting a 4.416 E.T. to DeJoria’s 5.238-second effort.

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CONCORD, NC – It was an uncharacteristic weekend for the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team at the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals, the second stop of the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff series of events. The Del Worsham/Nicky Boninfante-led team is well-known throughout the pits as having one of the strongest, most consistent-performing race cars in the Funny Car category. The team routinely qualifies strong, but in an unusual set of circumstances, failed to make a full pull throughout the weekend’s three qualifying sessions before the fields were set for race day.

Starting from the No. 14 seed, DeJoria lined up opposite No. 3 qualifier Bob Tasca in the first round of eliminations for what was billed as NHRA’s Funny Car marquee match-up. DeJoria, who was celebrating a birthday on Sunday, was looking to rebound on race day and cap off her day with a winner’s circle celebration but saw her hopes for a third consecutive zMAX Dragway final round appearance go up in smoke when her machine lost traction early into the run while Tasca made a clean pass for the win.

“We didn’t have a great weekend,” said DeJoria on Sunday following the first round of eliminations. “The car didn’t make it down the track one time, unfortunately. We’re a good team and we’re usually very consistent, we just had a real bad weekend. It is what it is, we’re going to pack it up and see what we can do at the next race in St. Louis.”

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READING, PA – Alexis DeJoria began the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, the first event of the six-race NHRA Countdown to the Championship, from the No. 6 seed in the Funny Car standings. Making her sixth playoff appearance, DeJoria is on track to finish in the top 10 for the seventh time, including her 2020 campaign.

DeJoria returned to Maple Grove Raceway with three runner-up finishes through the first 15 events of the regular season and was looking to break through for her first event win of the year. Out of four qualifying runs, DeJoria placed her Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra eighth on the Funny Car ladder on the strength of her 3.915-second at 331.04 MPH pass, which she clocked during the second session. She drew No. 9 qualifier Blake Alexander as her first-round opponent. DeJoria carried a 6-3 round-win lead over Alexander into the race and used a stout 3.879-second pass to easily defeat her opponent who suffered a loss of traction. Her run held up to be the third-quickest of the round and earned her the advantage of lane choice versus Bob Tasca III in the quarterfinals.

When the DC Motorsports team returned to the starting line for round two, both DeJoria and Tasca did their burnouts before the skies opened and it started to sprinkle. The two teams opted to delay their match and returned to the staging lanes to run at the end of the second Funny Car session. When they rolled back up to the waterbox for a second time, DeJoria staged her machine and clocked another solid pass but her 3.904 E.T. couldn’t keep pace with Tasca’s faster 3.867.

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INDIANAPOLIS – A solid qualifying effort coupled with a quarterfinal appearance at the NHRA U.S. Nationals yielded a sixth-place finish to the NHRA’s regular-season for Alexis DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team on Monday at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

DeJoria’s four-day weekend at IRP got off to a strong start. Right out of the gate, she unleashed with an impressive 3.888-second at 331.77 MPH blast during Friday night’s opening qualifying session. The run held up to be the third-quickest of qualifying and allowed DeJoria to bank two bonus points in the process. As the No. 3 seed, DeJoria drew No. 14 qualifier Bobby Bode as her first-round opponent on race day. It was clear crew chiefs Del Worsham and Nicky Boninfante weren’t taking their first competitor lightly when they tuned DeJoria’s machine to a stout 3.889 E.T. at 331.61 MPH pass. By clocking the quickest run of the session, DeJoria was able to easily defeat Bode’s 4.187-second effort. With the advantage of lane choice, DeJoria returned to the starting line ready to battle it out with her next opponent, Cruz Pedregon, in round two. She left the starting line first to score the holeshot advantage over Pedregon, but he was able to pull ahead by the time they reached the 60-foot marker and never trailed from there for the win.

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Indianapolis, IN – Alexis won the 2014 U.S. Nationals and is currently ranked sixth in the Funny Car driver standings and will be looking to finish the weekend inside the top five.

She is one of eight drivers to have qualified for the 2023 Pep Boys All-Star Funny Car Callout specialty event, scheduled for Sunday
Sept. 1 – 4, 2023.

Alexis talks about Indy, “Well, it’s that time of year again. We’re gearing up for the ‘Big Go,’ the Super Bowl of drag racing. I love racing at the U.S. Nationals. The fans are always incredible and this is by far, the biggest event of the year. Everyone wants to win this race, and I’m so thankful I was able to add an Indy win to my collection back in 2014. I’m so pumped that we’re a part of the Pep Boys Callout race this year, and it’s exciting that we’ll have an opportunity to compete for two wins this weekend. That’s just a testament to how great this team is and has been all year long.

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