Alexis DeJoria Racing
Dejoria and the Bandero Café Funny Car Head to Route 66
Joliet, IL – DeJoria scored her second semifinal finish in five races during her most recent outing in Charlotte where she advanced to the final 
elimination quad. Her performance earned her a spot in Chicago’s Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, scheduled for Saturday.
Competed in her 200th professional event during the 2023 NHRA Route 66 Nationals Made history when she became the first female Funny Car driver to enter 100 events during the 2016 Winternationals, and at the 2023 Chicago race, became the first woman to reach the 200 Funny Car events milestone.
“I’m excited for the Joliet race this weekend. Our team has picked up again and we’re feeling very confident in our abilities right now. A win is soon to come!” Continue reading
Alexis DeJoria Advances to Final Quad at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
CONCORD, NC – Alexis DeJoria advanced to the final elimination quad on Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals near 
Charlotte, where she recorded her second semifinal finish of the season. It was DeJoria’s first time running for an NHRA Wally trophy since joining the JCM Racing team over the 2024-2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series off-season. DeJoria’s strong performance at zMAX Dragway moved her within striking distance of the Funny Car Top 10 and was a much-needed confidence boost for the tenured racer and her Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff/Todd Smith-led team after a frustrating outing at the most recent race in Las Vegas where they narrowly missed a chance to compete in the event’s elimination field.
Aboard the Bandero Café Funny Car, DeJoria opened her weekend in Concord, N.C. with a solid 3.963-second at 323.35 mph pass, giving her team a good baseline to work from heading into the remaining qualifying rounds. On Friday night under the zMAX Dragway lights, DeJoria recorded her best run of the weekend, crossing the finish line beams in 3.925 seconds at 324.51 mph. In Saturday’s hot conditions, DeJoria posted two more quality runs – a 3.979 and 4.001 E.T. – before settling into the No. 12 spot on the Four-Wide Nationals Funny Car elimination ladder. Her round-one race day quad featured a showdown between DeJoria, No. 4 qualifier Spencer Hyde, No. 5 qualifier Jack Beckman, and No. 13 seed Chad Green, leading NHRA to name the tough draw the Four-Wide Nationals Funny Car marquee matchup. Continue reading
Bandero Café Funny Car Team Continues to Make Progress in Pomona
POMONA, CA – With cool conditions and 19 Funny Cars vying for a spot on the NHRA Winternationals elimination ladder, the competition 
was stout at the 65th running of the annual event at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. In what was nearly an all-three-second field, Alexis DeJoria used her 3.921-second run from the weekend’s final qualifying outing to secure the No. 9 seed in the stacked Sunday show. Racing at her hometown facility, DeJoria was looking to add more round wins to her 2025 total, but dropped cylinders ended the Bandero Café Funny Car team’s day after the first round of eliminations.
DeJoria opened her weekend with a loss of traction in the first qualifying session followed by tire shake in the second, but the team bounced back impressively on Saturday, sending DeJoria and her Bandero Café Funny Car down the track in 3.982 seconds to move into the No. 12 spot. Crew chiefs Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff and Todd Smith returned to the line for the final session and turned up the wick even more, tuning DeJoria’s machine to an impressive 3.921 E.T. at 324.75 mph to advance three spots to ninth. During both runs, one of DeJoria’s parachutes failed to deploy, but the seasoned racer was able to get her car safely stopped before reaching the end of the shutdown area. Continue reading
Alexis DeJoria Looking Ahead to Pomona After Early Exit at Phoenix
CHANDLER, AZ – Riding the excitement from a promising semifinal finish at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals, Alexis DeJoria went 
into the NHRA Arizona Nationals chasing another big performance in her Bandero Café Funny Car. DeJoria pushed the tree hard in her opening-round match, but she pushed it a touch too hard, leading to a red-light disqualification. Her Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff and Todd Smith-tuned JCM Racing hot rod continued to run in the 3.90-second range, though, keeping DeJoria’s morale high going into the next race in just a few days.
DeJoria lost traction early in her first qualifying attempt on Friday, but she bounced back with a 3.931-second pass at 324.75 mph to wrap up Friday in sixth. When DeJoria reached the semifinals at the Gatornationals, she qualified for the first Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge of the season in Phoenix. In the first round of the Challenge, which counted as the third qualifying session, DeJoria left first against Ron Capps, but her car went silent around 700 feet and finished with a 4.196 E.T. DeJoria and her team sat out the fourth session to prepare for Sunday eliminations out of the No. 6 position.
On race day, two pairs of Funny Cars ahead of DeJoria, Capps experienced a violent explosion and crash. Fortunately, he walked away from the incident without injuries, but the impact to the retaining wall did require repairs that put the rest of the round on a delay. Though DeJoria and her fellow competitors had the chance to get out of their cars during the delay, she did sit in her car for quite some time after it had been baking under the Arizona sun. When it came time to stage and launch, DeJoria stepped on the throttle .046 seconds too soon, giving the win to Cruz Pedregon. Continue reading
Semifinal Finish Sends Alexis DeJoria’s Confidence Soaring at NHRA Gatornationals
GAINESVILLE, FL – Going into a new season with a new car, new crew chiefs, and a new team can come with its fair share of challenges, but 
Alexis DeJoria and her Bandero Café Funny Car team performed like they’ve worked together for years at Sunday’s NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. Led by crew chiefs Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff and Todd Smith under the JCM Racing umbrella, DeJoria charged to a semifinal finish at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season opener. Now ranked third in the Funny Car points standings, DeJoria leaves Gainesville with her confidence at an all-time high.
DeJoria joined JCM Racing over the offseason to form NHRA’s first all-female nitro team with Ida Zetterström as her Top Fuel teammate. The duo made its debut on the perfect weekend, as the team celebrated International Women’s Day on Saturday.
In Friday’s opening qualifying session, DeJoria fired off a 3.932-second pass at 324.75 mph to sit solidly in the field in the No. 5 spot. She launched hard in the second qualifying session, but when she started moving around down track, she wisely lifted off the throttle. After Saturday’s two qualifying sessions were canceled due to inclement weather, DeJoria ended up No. 7 on the final qualifying order. Continue reading
Alexis DeJoria Joins JCM Racing for 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Series Season
BROWNSBURG, IN – Alexis DeJoria is taking her talents to Joe Maynard’s JCM Racing team for the 2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag 
Racing Series season, it was announced by both parties today. DeJoria will join Maynard’s multi-car operation where she will pilot the Bandero Premium Tequila Funny Car. DeJoria previously drove for Del Worsham and the DC Motorsports team where she advanced to the final round seven times including powering to victory at the 2021 Bristol, Tenn. event during the team’s run from 2020 through the 2024 season. Prior, she competed under the Kalitta Motorsports banner from 2011 through 2017.
“First and foremost, I want to share my appreciation for Del Worsham and all he has done for me and my career,” DeJoria said. “He has been with me since day one. I licensed in his Funny Car way back in 2011. He was my first crew chief at Kalitta Motorsports. Del and I have really been in the trenches as teammates. He’s my mentor, my closest confidante, and really, my brother. We had several candid conversations over these last few months about the future of the team. He expressed wanting to take some time to reevaluate the direction of his career, and I wholeheartedly support that.
“I’m really looking forward to this next chapter in my career, competing as a member of the JCM Racing team,” DeJoria added. “It’s been many years since I was part of a multi-car operation and I’m excited for that opportunity. From my very first conversation with Joe about us potentially teaming up, I knew this was going to be a good fit. His enthusiasm for the sport is incredible, and the impact he has made on this industry in just a few years’ time is undeniable. I have unfinished business on the track, and I have no doubt our Bandero team will be dialed in and ready to perform when we get to Gainesville for the Gatornationals season opener in two months.” Continue reading
Alexis DeJoria Down but Not Out After Early Exit at NHRA Finals
POMONA, CA – To say the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season was a rough one for Alexis DeJoria would be an 
understatement. Throughout the 20-race schedule, the team made only one final round appearance and fell short of clinching a No. 1 qualifier award after securing two No. 2 starting positions. Despite the setbacks, DeJoria has nothing but confidence in her Del Worsham-led DC Motorsports team and is adamant that they will rebound strong and start 2025 as solid contenders.
DeJoria’s weekend at the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals began with a 3.948-second run, placing her eighth after the first qualifying round. After the second session was canceled due to rain, she returned on Saturday and clocked a 3.952 before closing out her qualifying outing with her best run of the weekend – a 3.890 E.T. at 308.43 mph, which put her 11th in the final qualifying order.
DeJoria faced Blake Alexander in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday but lost traction early into the run while her opponent made a full pull in the opposite lane to score the round win. With the 2024 season wrapped up, DeJoria finished 11th in the final Funny Car standings. She is determined to secure a seventh Top 10 finish in 2025 and add to her tally of six national event victories. Continue reading
DeJoria Looking to Charge Hard for Top 10 Finish After Early Exit in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS – Two-time Las Vegas event champion Alexis DeJoria was eliminated early on Sunday at the NHRA Nevada Nationals, the 
penultimate event of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, placing her outside the Top 10 heading into the final event of the year.
Aboard the Bandero Café Toyota GR Supra, DeJoria clocked three three-second passes in qualifying despite dealing with chassis issues to secure a spot in Sunday’s elimination show. With 21 Funny Cars vying to get into the 16-car field, DeJoria’s best run of 3.918 seconds at 330.96 mph put her 10th on the ladder and pitted her against fellow Toyota driver Ron Capps in the opening round of eliminations. The veteran drivers left the starting line together in what was shaping up to be an exciting side-by-side race until DeJoria’s machine encountered issues as she approached halftrack. She slowed to a 4.209-second pass while Capps was able to drive away with the win and advance into the second session on the strength of his 3.917-second run.
“It was a tough weekend,” DeJoria explained following her match with Capps. “We’ve had some continuing chassis issues that have plagued us, and it didn’t get any better first and second round of qualifying. Third round we were able to put down a 91, which put us in tenth on the ladder. First round of eliminations, went out, had a good light, the car was on a good run and was actually going to run better than our 91, but unfortunately, we hurt a piston and the RPM got too high and it triggered the safety system and shut the car off and that was the end of our weekend here in Vegas.” Continue reading
Alexis DeJoria Maintains Top 10 Ranking After Early Exit in St. Louis
MADISON, IL – After persistent rain showers washed out day one of qualifying for the NHRA Midwest Nationals near St. Louis, Alexis 
DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team entered Sunday’s elimination rounds at the third event of the NHRA Countdown starting from the No. 12 seed. DeJoria opened race day by powering to her best run of the weekend, but it wasn’t enough to outpace Daniel Wilkerson, ending her day early.
In the first round of qualifying on Saturday, DeJoria and her Bandero Café Toyota GR Supra were on a good-looking pass until her machine started hazing the tires near the top end of the race track. Like many nitro teams adapting to the brand-new World Wide Technology Raceway dragstrip race surface, the DC Motorsports team again ran into traction issues in the second and final qualifying round, placing them 12th on the Funny Car eliminations ladder. Against No. 5-qualified Wilkerson, DeJoria improved upon her weekend-best qualifying time of 4.074 seconds and took her GR Supra to the finish line stripe in 3.940 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to outrun her opponent’s 3.901-second pass. Continue reading
Alexis DeJoria Ready to Put Charlotte in the Rearview; Looks for Strong Rebound in St. Louis
CONCORD, NC – The DC Motorsports team entered the NHRA Carolina Nationals following a strong showing from last weekend’s outing in 
Reading, Pennsylvania where they advanced to the semifinals from the No. 2 spot. Alexis DeJoria and the Del Worsham-led team were looking to keep building upon their recent momentum and continue their climb in the NHRA Mission Foods Series Funny Car points standings. A steering issue in qualifying, however, caused the Top 10-ranked team to fall behind, and the weekend culminated with an early exit on race day at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte.
DeJoria opened the 2024 NHRA Countdown ranked 10th in the Funny Car standings but thanks to their success at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals less than one week prior, the driver of the Bandero Café GR Supra started the second of two Charlotte-area events from the No. 7 position on the leaderboard. A steering issue in the first round of qualifying caused DeJoria’s machine to cross the centerline, disallowing the run. Traction issues followed in Friday night’s ‘field setting’ run and continued into Saturday. By the time the Funny Car elimination ladder was set, the team found themselves starting race day without yet having made a full pass down the zMAX Dragway track. Continue reading
