READING, PA – Lots of recent testing is starting to pay off for Alexis DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team, as she drove her Bandero Café Toyota GR Supra Funny Car to a semifinal finish at the first race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway. DeJoria’s best race day finish since the start of the season helped her move up three spots to seventh in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car points standings.

DeJoria’s turnaround weekend started with a strong qualifying effort on Friday. She raced to the provisional No. 1 spot in the first session with a 3.915 E.T. at 330.80 mph, earning three bonus points for the performance. With crew chief Del Worsham turning the knobs, DeJoria charged to a 3.867-second pass at a career-best 336.40 mph in the second session to qualify No. 2. That was also the second-quickest pass of the session, giving DeJoria two more bonus points. Traction issues followed in Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, though DeJoria held on to the second qualifying position, marking the second time DeJoria qualified No. 2 this season.

DeJoria kicked off Sunday eliminations with a decisive win over Jim Campbell, with the Bandero Café GR Supra launching first and charging to a 3.94-second pass to move on to the second round. There, DeJoria and Cruz Pedregon left the starting line together and both ran into tire smoke, but DeJoria charged hard out of the gate and held on to win with a 4.748-second effort. A thrilling pedalfest followed in the semifinals, with DeJoria and Jack Beckman pedaling their nitro machines several times in an effort to find traction. It was a close race, but Beckman in John Force’s car reached the finish line first. Continue reading →

BROWNSBURG, IN – Aboard her new-look Toyota GR Supra, 2014 NHRA U.S. Nationals Funny Car event champion Alexis DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team were a dominant force throughout the weekend at the 70th running of the annual event at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Debuting a blacked-out Bandero Café paint scheme, which she will carry on her 11,0000-horsepower machine through the remainder of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, DeJoria qualified ninth out of 18 cars battling to clinch a spot in Monday’s U.S. Nationals eliminations show.

DeJoria opened the weekend with a clean, straight pass of 3.987 seconds on Friday night. In Saturday’s first session, she clocked a 3.911 at 323.50 mph run to place her seventh on the ladder. She then recorded her third consecutive 3.9-second run before lining up on Sunday for the Pep Boys All-Star Funny Car Callout against Matt Hagan, who selected DeJoria as his first-round opponent the day prior. For the first time all weekend, DeJoria’s machine spun and dropped cylinders, slowing to a 4.812 E.T. while Hagan posted a 3.931 for the win to advance. The Bandero Café Toyota GR Supra closed out qualifying for the ‘Big Go ‘with another clean, straight pass.

On Monday morning, DeJoria had the opportunity to avenge Sunday’s loss to Hagan when she lined up opposite the reigning world champ once again during the first round of eliminations. Against Hagan, she took her Del Worsham-tuned machine on its quickest ride of the weekend, posting a 3.886 to defeat Hagan’s 4.225-second effort. In the quarterfinals, DeJoria recorded another stout pass. She bested her previous time with a run of 3.876 seconds, but Austin Prock’s slight starting line advantage coupled with his 3.879 E.T. propelled him across the finish line first in a tight side-by-side race, ending the team’s day after round two. Continue reading →

BRAINERD, MN – Following a successful test session in Indianapolis after the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Alexis DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team entered the NHRA Brainerd Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota looking for a get-healthy weekend of strong on-track performances. The team was quick and consistent throughout qualifying at the second-to-last event of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series regular season, but a loss of traction in the first round of eliminations ended their shot at making a run for the Brainerd trophy on Sunday.

DeJoria clocked two 3.8-second passes during the weekend’s four qualifying rounds aboard the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra. Her 3.882-second at 332.84 mph Friday night run was the second-quickest of the session and held up to place DeJoria fifth on the Funny Car elimination ladder.

Racing No. 12 qualifier Daniel Wilkerson on Sunday morning, DeJoria was first off the line but her machine lost traction shortly after while her opponent made a clean pass in the opposite lane to advance to round two. Continue reading →

SONOMA, CA – After a frustrating first-round loss on Sunday at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra pilot Alexis DeJoria addressed the team’s recent race-day struggles and shared their plan to put themselves back in position to contend for the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship when the playoffs kick off in early September.

DeJoria had a successful first day of qualifying at the annual wine country event when she clocked a 3.920-second at 331.28 mph pass during the Friday night session under the Sonoma Raceway lights. She then closed out qualifying on Saturday with another solid pass of 3.919 seconds at 326.63 mph to place her eighth on Sunday’s elimination ladder. DeJoria opened race day with a first-round match versus Paul Lee where she used her quick reflexes to score the holeshot advantage. Unfortunately, DeJoria’s lead was short-lived as her car started to haze the tires while Lee made his quickest pass of the weekend in the opposite lane to advance, ending DeJoria’s day after the first round for the fourth consecutive event.

“It’s frustrating, we’re a really good team and we’re better than this,” said No. 11 ranked DeJoria, who has two events left to secure a starting position in the Funny Car Top 10. “Del (Worsham) and I have been struggling with this car for a minute so obviously there’s an issue that we need to handle. We’re just going down the list and crossing off all of the possibilities of what could be plaguing us, and we’re down to the last two. Continue reading →

KENT, WA – Alexis DeJoria, driver of the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car, experienced some vexing struggles this weekend in her performance at the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. The fan-favorite Funny Car pilot lost in the first round of competition after tire shake caused her safety system to engage, bringing her race day to an early end.

DeJoria improved upon each of her four qualifying efforts in the Emerald City despite experiencing challenges keeping traction on the hot track. In the final qualifying opportunity on Saturday, she leapfrogged up the ladder from the No. 11 position to No. 7 thanks to her pass of 4.027 seconds at 318.99 mph.

“Qualifying was a little tricky for us. It was a hot track and hot weather,” remarked DeJoria. “Usually, we have a good tune-up for that but we kept having issues. In Q2, our first time running at night here in Seattle, we were on our way to running a 3.80-something. The car was on a tear. Then when I got down the track, the front end picked up. That puts too much pre-load on the tires so I lost traction. That was unfortunate. There are only 15 cars here so obviously we are all qualified but you want to be qualified up in the top half of the field. But we didn’t need to worry about that because on our Q4 run, we managed to run a 4.027 which got us in the No. 7 spot. So that was good going into race day.” Continue reading →

NORWALK, OH – NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car star Alexis DeJoria had an action-packed weekend that showcased the strength of the team behind her Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car as they came back from a fiery explosion to qualify in the top half of the Funny Car field at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

DeJoria started qualifying off on a good note at Summit Motorsports Park with a solid lap of 3.950 seconds at 324.98 mph straight down the groove in the first Friday session. In round two, her 12,000-horsepower Funny Car had more power than the track could hold and she had to shut off early.

On Saturday, after a torrential downpour caused a delay, DeJoria clocked an impressive pass of 3.950 at 316.08 but the engine exploded at the top end resulting in a cockpit fire. DeJoria swiftly and safely piloted the car to a stop and took fire extinguishing measures. The Bandero Premium Tequila crew burst into action as they raced to the pit to replace the body, assess the damage, and service the engine in a very short window of time due to the delay earlier in the day. Continue reading →

NORTH DINWIDDIE, VA – After battling challenging track conditions during Saturday’s three qualifying rounds to secure a starting position in the top half of the field, Alexis DeJoria felt she had the car to go rounds on race day at the PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals. An issue during her first-round burnout, however, prevented DeJoria from having a shot at making a run at her first Virginia Motorsports Park trophy.

During the two-day event in North Dinwiddie, Virginia near Richmond, DeJoria and the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team saw steady improvement throughout qualifying. With temperatures soaring in the upper 90s throughout the weekend, teams had their work cut out for them as they attempted to make full passes down the VMP track, and the DC Motorsports team was no exception. In their first qualifying effort, DeJoria’s machine got loose just past halftrack but in round two, she took her Bandero GR Supra straight down the groove in 4.166 seconds at 304.05 mph to move into the No. 10 position. With a solid baseline to work off of, crew chief Del Worsham tuned DeJoria’s machine to an impressive 4.058 at 313.0 mph, which held up to be fifth-quickest of the session and vaulted DeJoria up to sixth on the Funny Car elimination ladder. The run set up a match with DeJoria’s Toyota teammate, No. 11 qualifier Ron Capps, to start race day. Continue reading →

BRISTOL, TN – It’s no secret Alexis DeJoria loves Bristol Dragway. It was at the 2012 NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals where she advanced to her first final round during her rookie season. In 2021, she scored her sixth national event victory from the pole in Thunder Valley, and in 2023, she advanced to another Bristol final. The driver of the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car was looking to the northeastern Tennessee venue to be the scene of her first triumph of 2024 but narrowly missed advancing beyond the quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon.

DeJoria opened the weekend by clocking a 4.016-second pass to put her fifth after the first qualifying round. In Friday night’s session in prime conditions, DeJoria rocketed to a 3.973-second at 319.90 MPH pass to move up to the No. 2 spot and earn two bonus points. Like many other nitro teams struggling to get down the hot and tricky track on Saturday, DeJoria’s machine hazed the tires during the two remaining sessions but she was able to maintain her second-seeded position to start race day.

Against No. 15 qualifier Dave Richards, DeJoria scored the holeshot start and never trailed for the win, taking her Bandero GR Supra to the stripe in 3.938 seconds to defeat Richards’ 4.242-second attempt. Facing John Force in round two, DeJoria was first on the throttle again, but her machine started to slow as it approached halftrack when it dropped a cylinder. Down on power, she crossed the finish line in 4.088 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to outrun Force’s 4.01-second pass. While she missed out on her shot at a third Bristol final-round appearance, DeJoria is happy with the team’s outing and feels they’re headed in the right direction. Continue reading →

CONCORD, NC – Returning as the 2023 NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Funny Car runner-up, Alexis DeJoria was determined to take her Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra one step further on Sunday at zMAX Dragway, but an immediate loss of traction in the quarterfinals ended her chances at clinching a first four-wide Wally trophy.

DeJoria started race day from the top half of the field after clocking a blistering 3.859-second at 331.69 MPH pass on Friday night under the lights. The run held up to be the second-quickest of the session, which allowed DeJoria to add two bonus points to her total and placed her fourth on the Funny Car elimination ladder after all four sessions were completed.

Despite securing a top-seeded starting position, DeJoria found herself in a tough first-round elimination quad, which featured her Toyota teammates J.R. Todd and Ron Capps, in addition to Buddy Hull. In what was billed as NHRA’s Marquee Matchup, DeJoria was quick on the throttle, clocking a .050-second reaction time to get the holeshot start over her three competitors. Her machine lost traction shortly after, but DeJoria’s driving experience paid off when she masterfully pedaled her car and got it to quickly recover, driving past Hull to advance into round two along with Todd. She was plagued with traction issues once again in the quarterfinals when she stood on the throttle and immediately went up in smoke while Todd and John Force posted a pair of 3.9-second runs to move on to the final round. Continue reading →

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 →