POMONA, CA – Alexis DeJoria opened her 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series campaign by earning the No. 5 qualifying seed in a loaded Funny Car class which saw 20 teams vie for a spot in the Sunday elimination show.

DeJoria raced the new Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car to a 3.945-second at 326.95-mph pass in the season’s first qualifying session, which held strong throughout Saturday’s two qualifying rounds and earned DeJoria the advantage of lane choice over Jim Campbell, her round-one competitor.

DeJoria and Campbell were the first pair of Funny Car racers to take the track on Sunday morning, allowing the Austin, Texas-based driver the opportunity to snag the first NHRA win light in the newly-introduced Toyota GR Supra body. Against Campbell, DeJoria was out of the gate first and clocked her best run of the weekend, a 3.917-second E.T. at 327.35-mph pass, to capture the round win and secure a bid to round two. In her quarterfinal meeting with Cruz Pedregon, DeJoria once again posted another solid run (3.981-seconds) but Pedregon was able to pull ahead and edge past DeJoria with his 3.962-second effort.

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AUBURN, IN – After a successful pre-season test session at the PRO Nitro Spring Training event last week, Alexis DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team are ready for their Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car to make its competition debut. The 2022 NHRA Camping World Series season opens with the NHRA Winternationals this weekend in Pomona, Calif., and the team is looking for a strong start to the season to build upon the success they enjoyed in 2021, particularly toward the latter part of the year.

DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team were fixtures on the Sunday afternoon eliminations ladder in 2021, advancing to the semifinals or beyond at eight of the 20 contested events, but it was their statement-making end of year push, which included a win, a runner-up finish, and two No. 1 qualifier awards at the final three events which really showed that they had found their groove. With the 2022 season-opener just two days away, DeJoria feels more confident than ever in her team’s ability to put together a solid campaign and position themselves to battle for the series title at the end of the year.

“This will be our third season competing together, and each year, we get better and better,” said DeJoria, who reunited with former crew chief and longtime friend Del Worsham to form DC Motorsports in 2020. “We did so well in ’21, that we’re kind of operating with the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality.

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POMONA, CA – Alexis DeJoria raced to her second final round in the final three Countdown races collecting a runner-up finish today at the Auto Club NHRA Finals from Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. DeJoria, who qualified No. 3, raced to her eleventh career final round and third of the season. Two races ago the veteran driver won for the sixth time in her career when she captured the Thunder Valley Nationals title and today she was racing for her seventh title. The Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car was nearly unstoppable defeating Bobby Bode, Tim Wilkerson and Matt Hagan before facing Bob Tasca III in the final.“We just have a good consistent racecar,” said DeJoria. “We are finishing this season strong. I am excited we went to the finals and we wanted that trophy. It just shows how much steam we have going into next year. I am so proud of this team. We have done a great job. We had a lot of firsts this season and there are many more to come.”

In the first round facing rookie Bobby Bode for the first time DeJoria showed that her Bandero Tequila Toyota Camry Funny Car was set up for a long day of racing. Her winning time of 3.936 seconds in front of a tire smoking Bode advanced her to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in the Countdown.

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POMONA, CA – The final race of the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season is on tap this weekend at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria looking to finish the year on a high note. The team is riding a two-race streak of No. 1 qualifiers and would like to make it three in a row in Pomona.

Throughout the Countdown DeJoria and her Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car team have improved and shown flashes of brilliance, including their first win of 2021 at the Thunder Valley Nationals. It was DeJoria’s sixth career professional Funny Car victory and the first with her new team in partnership with long-time mentor and crew chief Del Worsham. The Bristol title was a culmination of over a year of blood, sweat and tears.

“The Bristol win was special. We knew we had all the pieces all season,” said DeJoria. “Everything finally fell into place at the Thunder Valley Nationals. We are heading to Pomona looking to pick up one more win this season.”

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LAS VEGAS – As the most recent winner on the NHRA tour Alexis DeJoria was returning to one of her favorite tracks on the tour, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and she was looking for a second consecutive Funny Car win. Two weeks ago, DeJoria raced to her sixth career Funny Car win from the No. 1 spot. This weekend at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals DeJoria once again ran to the top of the Funny Car field securing her second No. 1 qualifier of 2021 and giving the Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car a leg up going into race day.

Through two days of qualifying DeJoria posted solid runs starting with a 3.896 second run on Friday night and following it up with runs at 3.965 and 3.912 seconds, respectively. She earned three qualifying bonus points and was slated for a first round match-up with Jeff Diehl.

DeJoria was looking for her first win at the fall NHRA event in Las Vegas to add to her two victories from the spring national event. Racing Diehl DeJoria was able to advance to the quarterfinals on the strength of her Bandero Tequila Toyota Camry Funny Car’s 3.925 second run.

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LAS VEGAS – For the second consecutive NHRA national event Alexis DeJoria drove her Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car to the No. 1 qualifier position. On Friday night at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals DeJoria blasted to the No. 1 spot with a stellar 3.896 second pass at 327.03 mph. It was the sixth career No. 1 for DeJoria and two weeks ago in Bristol DeJoria won the event from the pole for her first win of the 2021 season.

“This is like a dream,” said DeJoria. “This is everything that we had hoped for, and it is finally coming together. Our success in Bristol really catapulted us into this Las Vegas race. I am just proud of these guys. We made it down the track every run and consistency is the key.”

DeJoria backed up her Friday night effort with two solid runs on Saturday. In the first run of the day today she tripped the lights with a 3.965 second pass at 323.12 mph. In the final session running beside Toyota teammate J.R. Todd she once again showed she has a consistent and quick race car with a 3.912 second, 327.98 mph pass.

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AUSTIN, TX – The Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car team knew they had all the pieces they needed to win at the highest level this season. Strong performances throughout the early part of the season showed driver Alexis DeJoria what her team was capable of and a runner-up finish at the Mile-High Nationals in July fired up the organization. Everything fell into place two weeks ago when the veteran driver qualified No. 1 and then took care of business on race day turning on four win lights on the way to DeJoria’s sixth career Nitro Funny Car win and her first win with her new team that started together in 2020.

The win was significant for DeJoria and her young team as they built an organization from the ground up. In 2020 they closed out the season with strong performances and several low qualifying efforts. This season they recorded six No. 2 qualifiers before they started No. 1 at the Thunder Valley Nationals. To take the victory from the top spot made for an emotional weekend all around.

“I would say it’s one of the biggest (wins) because as a part-team owner definitely,” said DeJoria. “Coming back after taking the two years off and getting to work with my mentor, old teammate and friend in Del Worsham. I look up to him and I learned everything I know from Del. To be able to do this with him again and do something we couldn’t do at Kalitta when he ended up driving the other car.”

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BRISTOL, TN – Racing at one of her favorite tracks on the NHRA circuit veteran driver Alexis DeJoria won for the sixth time in her career and first time with her new Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry team today at Bristol Dragway, home of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Almost a decade ago in 2012 during her rookie season DeJoria raced to the final round but was unable to seal the deal. Today in front of a packed house that roared with every win light DeJoria, the No. 1 qualifier, defeated Paul Lee, earned a second round bye, Robert Hight and J.R. Todd to secure her first win of the 2021 season.

“Round one always makes me want to throw up in my helmet,” said DeJoria. “It’s the worst round for me. It’s not nerves, I just want to get past first round. After that, it gets better. We got the win and I’ll just leave it at that. Then we got the bye in round two which was a gift this week. We just haven’t had much luck.”

“The first two rounds went great. Obviously, we made it down the track with another good run on our bye run. Just to make it to the semis and the finals was a huge deal. I was just happy to make it to another final and have it be against another Toyota Funny Car. Two Toyota cars in the finals, it couldn’t be better than that. Even though I’m not teammates with J.R. anymore, all of those guys are always going to be teammates to me. We’re Toyota cars and we’re friends and I was just there a long time. I love racing him and I think that’s why I have such good lights against him.”

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BRISTOL, TN – Alexis DeJoria drove her Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car to the No. 1 qualifier position today at the 20th Thunder Valley Nationals at historic Bristol Dragway. It was the fifth career No. 1 for DeJoria and her first since the Charlotte Four-Wide Nationals in 2016. The qualifying effort is the best of the season for DeJoria after six No. 2 qualifiers.

“This is the first No. 1 qualifier for DC Motorsports since Del Worsham and I began in 2020 and I’m so happy that it came at the same track where I went to my first Funny Car final with Del as my crew chief in 2012,” said DeJoria, a five-time national event winner in Funny Car. “Everything’s going to come together and we’re going to break through for a win very soon. This track has a lot of very good memories for me. To come back here with our own team and get a No. 1 qualifier is huge. We have had so many No. 2s and I am not complaining but this No. 1 is so gratifying. It means so much. It kind of feels like a win. This is a huge weight lifted off our shoulders.”

The No. 1 time of 3.907 seconds at 326.79 mph was almost five hundredths quicker than her nearest competitor in qualifying. The cooler track temperatures throughout the day made it tricky for all the teams. Following the run DeJoria shared with the media how close that run came to not happening.

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AUSTIN, TX – It has been four years since the roars of Alexis DeJoria’s NHRA Nitro Funny Car have reverberated off the mountains surrounding Bristol Dragway. For DeJoria who is now behind the wheel of the Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry Funny Car that is four years too long. This weekend at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals DeJoria, a five-time Funny Car national event winner, will return to a track where in her rookie season she raced to her first professional final round.

In 2012 DeJoria bumped into the field as the No. 15 qualifier and then took out No. 2 qualifier Mike Neff in the first round before defeating Jeff Arend and Jack Beckman. In a final round showdown with Ron Capps, she was neck and neck with him before her race car overpowered the track handing the win to Capps.

Since that first race, the veteran driver has raced to several quarterfinals and in 2016 raced to the semifinals from the No. 10 spot, upsetting Chad Head and current crew chief then driver Del Worsham in the first two rounds.

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