DEJORIA RACES TO ANOTHER FINAL ROUND IN COUNTDOWN

Published November 18, 2021

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.

Following her dominant win over Bode, DeJoria took out veterans Tim Wilkerson and Matt Hagan in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Each of those wins was significant. DeJoria’s victory over Wilkerson moved her up to sixth in the Camping World point standings securing her best finish in the category of her career. The win over Hagan inserted her into the championship process when her picture perfect 3.940 second pass outran Hagan’s 3.975 second run and ended his bid for the Funny Car championship. In the semifinals both racecars were side-by-side, but DeJoria had more power getting the finish line .0008 seconds in front.

“I was just happy to get the round win. I don’t really care about the championship unless I am in it. That was a very close race. I was just racing our race against Hagan and we got the win light to advance to the final,” said DeJoria.

DeJoria wrapped up the season sitting No. 6 in the Funny Car points, her best career finish. Next season she will debut the brand new GR Supra Funny Car with momentum and confidence.

“We are competitive with the top two teams in this class and everything is building for the future,” said DeJoria. “We have almost two years under our belts. Everything is coming together. I cannot wait until 2022 with the new GR Supra Funny Car. I am so excited to get to race that Funny Car. We are going to hit it hard next year.”

Qualifying Results

Q1: 3.954 sec, 318.92; Qual. 5

Q2: 4.004 sec, 319.60 mph; Qual. 5

Q3: 3.919 sec; 326.32 mph; Qual. 3

Bonus Points: +3 (2nd quickest of Q3)

Race Results

First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 3 .092 3.936 327.66 (W)

Bobby Bode 14 .074 5.189 142.91

Second Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 3 .094 3.988 318.92 (W)

Tim Wilkerson 11 .043 4.268 227.43

Semifinal Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 3 .081 3.940 321.04 (W)

Matt Hagan 7 .054 3.975 317.79