DeJoria Drives Camry To Funny Car Semis In NHRA Charlotte 

CHARLOTTE, NC – Alexis DeJoria drove her Bandero Tequila Toyota Camry Funny Car to the semifinals to lead Toyota in Sunday’s DeWalt NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway, in round two of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs. The strong showing marked the fifth time that DeJoria has advanced to the semifinals or beyond in the last nine races.

In round one against fellow playoff driver Blake Alexander, DeJoria had a slight advantage on the tree, but Alexander led briefly before DeJoria reeled him in quickly and went by him just past the 60-foot mark and never trailed again as she registered a 3.913 at 324.98 mph. That would set up a quarter-final match-up with Terry Haddock where DeJoria had a big advantage at the light and went wire-to-wire to send her into the semifinals.

In the semis against Cruz Pedregon, DeJoria had an outstanding .047 light giving her an .044 advantage early, but smoked the tires early, ending her day.

J.R. Todd advanced to the Funny Car second round today. He defeated fellow Camry driver Mike McIntire in round one as he took the lead at the start and never trailed in registering the win. Next up for Todd was Pedregon. Todd had a decisive starting line advantage, but was up in smoke at the hit, with Pedregon taking the victory.

It was a tough day for the Toyota Top Fuel contingent as all three would fall in the first round. Antron Brown registered a solid opening round pass (3.785) against Spencer Massey, but Massey had the starting line advantage and would barely hold off Brown at the finish line, winning on a holeshot. The final margin of victory was 0.0005 seconds or approximately three inches.

Doug Kalitta faced Steve Torrence in round one, with Kalitta having an .012 advantage on the tree, but Torrence made up the ground early on the way to the victory. Shawn Langdon squared off with Clay Millican. Langdon had the starting line advantage, but both were up in smoke early. Millican would win the pedalfest, with Langdon right there with him at the finish line.

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series heads straight to World Wide Technology Raceway in suburban St. Louis for next weekend’s NHRA Midwest Nationals, September 24-26.