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Rookie of the Year Contenders Alexis DeJoria and
Danica Patrick Meet in Bristol! 
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Bio
Driver: Alexis De Joria
DOB: Septembeer 24, 1977
Hometown: Venice, CA
Marital status: Single
Children: Isabella
Height/weight: 5'8", 130 lbs.
Hobbies: Snowboarding, riding dirt bikes,
skydiving, and watching movies
Competed in NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car competition
for five seasons
Got her start in drag racing in NHRA Super Gas
category driving a 1963 Corvette roadster and later
competed in NHRA Super Comp in a dragster
Daughter of highly-successful businessman John Paul
DeJoria, owner of Paul Mitchell Hair Care Products,
Patron Tequila, and John Paul Pet Products
Class/Registration: TAFC/710D
Top Alcohol Funny Car, Nitro Funny Car
Alexis DeJoria has spent the majority of her
life fascinated by speed. From fighter jets to
street machines, Alexis has always wanted to go
fast and live life to its fullest, but it was when
she first saw a Nitro Funny Car in action that she
realized where she wanted to be. Born with a drive
to succeed, Alexis knew she had to pursue drag
racing and began her career with a plan to develop
her driving skills in the sportsman categories and
continually move up the ranks in quicker, more
powerful machines.
Alexis began her racing career in a 1963
Corvette Roadster in the Super Gas category and
then quickly moved into a rear engine Super Comp
dragster scoring a runner-up finish at a divisional
race and also winning the coveted Sportsman
Nationals in Fontana, CA all within the first eight
months of her debut. Always looking to go faster
and feeling comfortable with her success, Alexis
was presented an opportunity to drive a Top Alcohol
Funny Car and spent a couple of years with a
two-car team and competed primarily on the west
coast. Alexis adjusted well to the 3,000 horsepower
alcohol burning funny car and continued to improve
her skills. In 2009 Alexis made a major commitment
in her racing career by moving east and building
her own team, StealthMotorsports, from scratch.
The 2009 Patrón Tequila sponsored Mustang
is Alexis’s current and most favorite hot rod
as she has set her career best elapse time and
speed with an 5.55 @ 260 miles per hour. Never one
to look back, Alexis is focused on competing at the
highest level in the Top Alcohol Funny Car. After a
mid-season crash in Englishtown, NJ, Alexis and the
Patrón Team returned to competition with a
new 2009 Mustang at the coveted Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals. After making two final round appearances
in a row at Ennis, TX and Las Vegas, NV, as well
as, winning the Division Two event in Reynolds, GA,
Alexis and the Patrón Team finished 11th in
championship points. Alexis is currently the second
woman to win a race in the Top Alcohol Funny Car
category.
Born with a passion to succeed with speed,
Alexis has made the commitment to make NHRA Drag
Racing her career. Having the support of Patron
Tequila and John Paul Pet products have helped
Alexis continue to live her dream of competing at
the highest level and help drive her appetite for
success as a professional drag racer. As she
continues to gain experience with every pass down
the quarter mile and plans on one day moving into
the professional funny car ranks as a contender,
fulfilling her dream of competing at the highest
level of the sport.
De Joria, 29, whose father, John Paul De Joria,
founded both Patrón Spirits Company and Paul
Mitchell Hair Care Products, has made laps at Frank
Hawley's Drag Racing School behind the wheel of
their school TAFC and finished her license last
weekend in testing at Firebird International
Raceway in Phoenix. She will start the season in a
Camaro-bodied machine until her new Murf McKinney
2007 Mustang is completed. Her tenure in Top
Alcohol Funny Car will be to prepare her for a
future ride in the nitro Funny Car ranks.
"I'm really looking forward to racing in Top
Alcohol Funny Car," said De Joria. "Ever since I
saw my first Top Fuel run as a teenager at Pomona,
I've been hooked. When I felt the power, saw the
flames at night and the speed, I was like, sign me
up. I've always been drawn to the Funny Cars; I
have a real affinity for them. My ultimate goal is
to move into nitro Funny Car. They're just bad ass,
they're harder to drive and that really appeals to
me. Right now, I just want to learn as much as I
can in the Top Alcohol Funny Car. Jack has
assembled a great team to learn with. I can't wait
to get this Tequila Patrón Funny Car in
competition!"
Snippets
The Alexis DeJoria Racing Team Wraps Up Successful
but Short 2011 Season; Sights Set on 2012 Rookie
Next race - Pomona, CA - O'Reilly Auto Parts
NHRA Winternationals - Feb. 9 - 12, 2012
*
* *
Professional Nitro Funny Car Racer and Team
Owner, Business Woman, Thrill Seeker joins the
legendary Kalitta Motorsports Team.
*
* *
A newly added Top Alcohol Funny Car that will be
wheeled by Alexis De Joria. De Joria, who most
recently won Super Comp at this past year's Pacific
SPORTS nationals in Fontana, Calif., will have her
Funny Car tuned by former world champion Randy
Anderson
*
* *
Alexis DeJoria pursues her own dreams.
News
‘First or Worst’
Rule Comes into Play After a Wild First Round for
Team Patron
After enjoying a quick and consistent car all
weekend-long, Alexis DeJoria, driver of the Kalitta
Motorsports Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car,
suffered an unfortunate first round loss to John
Force after what can only be described as a wacky
round, and a unique learning experience for the
first-year Funny Car driver.
In their fifth matchup of the season, the rookie
and veteran drivers pulled up to the line ready to
battle it out. As he has done previously when
matched-up against the black-and-green machine,
Force staged deep, but this time ended up red
lighting (foul start). His ‘jumping the
gun’ error caused DeJoria to react and red
light as well, although at that point she had
technically won the round due to the ‘first or
worst’ NHRA rule. Unaware that she had won the
round, DeJoria continued to go for it, pedaling the
car as it smoked the tires and went on a wild ride,
swerving and eventually crossing the center line.
Just as the ‘first or worst’ rule had
helped her initially win the round, it then caused
her to have to give up the win after the car
crossed over the middle, which is considered the
‘worst’ offense of the two.
“We were pretty stoked going into the first
round today. It was like a rematch of Seattle,
going up against Force again. It seems like we keep
getting matched up against each other,” said
DeJoria. “I was super focused and took my time
getting in. I didn’t realize he had red lit or
that I had even red lit. I was just focusing on
getting down quick. Go means go! The car smoked the
tires, and when I didn’t see him in the other
lane, I just kept going and trying to get the car
to hook up, but it never did. I hadn’t seen
the win lights come on and by the time I got the
radio call to let off it because I had won, I was
already in a sideways drift towards the center line
and I ended up clipping the middle. It was a bummer
to have that happen- we really needed that round
win. It was the second time I have ever pedaled the
car and I feel as though I did my best. I was just
trying to get to the finish line first. When you
don’t see a car in the other lane, you just
don’t know. I was trying to keep it straight,
and it was unfortunate that we lost, but it was
certainly a good learning experience for
me.”
“Our next race is Indy, and I’m really
looking forward to getting back out there. We know
we have a fast car, and our team is doing a great
job. Thankfully, my team is very tolerant of my
rookie mistakes. It’s all part of the
first-year learning curve.”
Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports
Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car team will
compete next at the 58th Annual Mac Tools US
Nationals presented by Auto-Plus in Indianapolis,
August 29th-September 3rd.
Source: femaleracingnews.com/drag_racing/first-or-worst-rule-comes-into-play-after-a-wild-first-round-for-team-patron/
Tequila Patron Funny Car
Driver, Alexis DeJoria, to Make Inaugural
Appearance in Brainerd this Weekend
This weekend will mark the first time Alexis
DeJoria packs up and heads North to Minnesota to
race the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at the famed
Brainerd International Raceway. This is one of the
few tracks that DeJoria, a Nitro Funny Car Rookie,
has not either raced or tested at in her previous
role as an Alcohol Funny Car driver.
DeJoria, who drives the Kalitta Motorsports
Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car, and most
recently piloted an F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jet,
is looking forward to making her maiden voyage to
Brainerd. “I’m really excited to go to
Brainerd because I’ve never been there before.
I’ve heard it’s a good track, and of
course the main goal this weekend is to just go out
there and try and make consistent passes.”
The Rookie of the Year candidate is fresh off of
a match race, Norwalk Night Under Fire, where she
had the opportunity to test out her new chassis.
Because the team was only able to make one lap with
the new frame, they decided that they will wait to
use it until they have more solid information, and
the plan is to stick with the current one for the
time being. According to Jim Oberhofer, VP of
Kalitta Motorsports, “Her car has been pretty
consistent as of late, and consistency will win you
rounds more than anything. We have a pretty good
setup right now and we don’t want to mess with
anything too much just yet. Jeff [Arend, driver
of the Kalitta Motorsports DHL Funny Car] made
a great run in Norwalk, so we’re going to tune
his car a little differently than Alexis’ and
see if we can get the same sort of reaction. If all
goes well, we’ll evaluate what we’ve got
at the end of the day on Friday, and apply it to
both of our Funny Cars.
“Even though we only had the chance to make
one run with each car in Norwalk, both of those
runs gave us a lot of information. We’re
excited about moving forward with what we learned.
Hopefully, it will help us take our performance to
the next level. We’re really looking for both
cars to run bigger numbers earlier into the run,
which will lead to greater ET’s.”
Kalitta Motorsports has seen success at the
Brainerd track, known for its ability to draw huge
crowds from the surrounding community, as both Doug
and Connie ‘the Bounty Hunter’ Kalitta
have won there in years past, and they’re
hoping it will be just as kind to Team Green this
weekend. “The last few years at Brainerd have
been really good, from a performance
standpoint,” said Oberhofer. “They
replaced the racing surface a few years back and
it’s really in great shape. Taking that into
consideration, and looking at the potential for
what should be cooler weather there this weekend,
all of us at Kalitta are excited to get on that
track and hopefully run some pretty good
numbers.”
Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports
Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car team compete
this weekend August 17th-19th at the 31st Annual
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota.
Nitro qualifying begins at 3PM on Friday.
Source: femaleracingnews.com/drag_racing/tequila-patr%cf%8cn-funny-car-driver-alexis
Rookie of the Year
Contenders Alexis DeJoria and Danica Patrick Meet
in Bristol!
The Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car team took
a break from their usual stomping grounds of the
drag strip to visit the oval track in Bristol, TN
this past weekend for the Food City 500 NASCAR
races at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The Tequila Patron NHRA team made the trip down
to the land of country music, Funny Car in tow, for
a jam-packed ‘NHRA Meets NASCAR’ weekend,
and what the team considered an exciting
introduction to the NASCAR crowd.
Down in Tennessee, they were greeted with open
arms by NASCAR fans and media alike. For Team
Patron’s driver, Alexis DeJoria, it was
especially exciting as it was her first time ever
attending a NASCAR event.
Alexis presenting Danica with a bottle of
Patron Platinum Tequila
The Friday through Sunday event was filled with
numerous appearances each day, including multiple
events on various stages in front of thousands,
media interviews, fan Q & A sessions, autograph
signings, and a chance for what many would consider
to be the two reigning queens of NASCAR and NHRA-
Danica Patrick and DeJoria- to meet in person for
the very first time. The two swapped racing
stories, wished each other luck in their run for
rookie of the year. The two-motorsport
fan-favorites’ are both vying for the
prestigious Rookie of the Year title in their
respective sports this year. DeJoria presented
Patrick with a bottle of Patron Tequila Platinum.
Perhaps the girls can share a toast together at the
end of successful rookie seasons!
During the weekend DeJoria signed autographs
alongside the 40+ NASCAR drivers at the Food City
Race Night fan event where her car was also on
display; she was introduced to the crowds at both
the Toyota and NASCAR VIP/Season Ticket Holders
pavilions throughout the weekend; was invited to
attend the pre-race Drivers Meeting on both
Saturday and Sunday where she was introduced to the
drivers, and moments prior to Sunday’s main
event, she was invited to do a NASCAR drivers ride
around in the outside of a truck waving to fans
alongside the other drivers during the official
NASCAR driver introductions.
Alexis and Crew Chief Del Worsham talk to the
media
Team Patron was scheduled to start the 8000 hp
car on Sunday morning prior to the Sprint Cup race
in front of the over one hundreds thousand in
attendance, but unfortunately, all pre-race
activities were cancelled due to heavy rain, which
also prohibited DeJoria from riding in the pace
car. On a sunnier note, Team Patron was able to
start the Funny Car for tens of thousands of fans
and received a response of overwhelming excitement
by the crowds. DeJoria and her crew chief, NHRA Top
Fuel World Champion Del Worsham also had the
opportunity to take part in a special media event
held at the NASCAR drivers’ media center where
they sat side-by-side for a media Q & A
session.
Source: femaleracingnews.com/circle_track/rookie-of-the-year-contenders-alexis-dejoria-and-danica-patrick-meet-in-bristol
The Alexis DeJoria Racing
Team Wraps Up Successful but Short 2011 Season;
Sights Set on 2012 Rookie Season
Although the 2011 NHRA season has come to an end,
the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patr?n Toyota Camry
Funny Car team is already looking ahead with high
hopes for the 2012 season. In their fourth
professional showing, Team Patr?n left the Pomona,
CA track feeling pleased with their overall
performance this past weekend. At what she
considers her ‘home track,’ Team Patr?n
driver and 2012 Rookie of the Year hopeful Alexis
DeJoria was surrounded by friends and family as her
debut Funny Car season came to an end.
In her first qualifying run on Thursday, she
shook the tires a bit, but two good runs on Friday
and Saturday ensured she made it into the field.
With twenty-four cars gunning for a spot in the
highly competitive ‘Top Twelve’ and rain
looming on the horizon, Team Patr?n knew they had
to turn up the heat on Friday to guarantee their
spot in Sunday’s eliminations. Running their
best numbers of the weekend- an impressive
4.158-second pass at 306.88-mph- put Alexis in the
number nine spot going into Saturday. “Being
in the Top Twelve on Friday is so crucial. If
you’re not in the Top Twelve, your runs
don’t count, so we were all obviously very
pleased,” said DeJoria.
In Saturday’s first qualifying run, Alexis
was up against teammate Jeff Arend. Track
conditions were good, and crew chief and VP of
Kalitta Motorsports Jim Oberhofer felt hopeful that
they would beat Friday’s numbers.
Unfortunately, an air bottle leak cost the team a
good run. “The air bottle must’ve leaked
at some point between the time we left the pits to
the time we started up the car. It operates a lot
of functions on the car, so when that didn’t
work, we had no ignition curve and the car went out
and pulled the tires.”
Although she faced some challenges during the
run, Saturday’s second qualifying round went a
little better for Team Patr?n. After waiting out a
rain delay, Alexis had the unique opportunity to
run at night, only her second time doing so. The
car got off the line to a good start but got out of
the groove early. Alexis handled the car well and
was able to keep it straight but was then met with
another challenge when her visor fogged up, causing
her to have to shut the car off early, resulting in
a 4.171-sec at 274.61-mph run. The run may not have
gone as smoothly as she would have hoped, but did
offer Alexis a new learning experience. Alexis went
into Sunday’s eliminations in the number
fourteen spot.
Team Patr?n was up against Mike Neff in the
first round of eliminations, but lost after she
‘red lit.’ “She gambled a bit with
her reaction times, but that’s alright. I
always tell drivers, ‘if you’re not
red-lighting every now and then, you’re not
trying.’ She red lit simply because she was
trying extremely hard. You can’t fault her for
that!” said Oberhofer.
“At the end of the day, I was just so
excited to have made it into the field for the
World Finals in Pomona. It’s such an exciting
thing to be a part of and a nice way to end the
season,” said DeJoria.
The 2011 season was a short one for Team Patr?n.
They made their long-awaited Nitro debut with
enormous fanfare and a star-studded kickoff party
in Dallas at the Texas Fall Nationals, but were
only able to compete in four races this year in
order to preserve Alexis’ rookie status for
the 2012 season. “We did well overall in these
four races,” said DeJoria. “With each
race, there was significant improvement. We had
some good learning experiences, got to race in
different conditions, and really gelled as a team,
which is so important. For us to do everything that
we were able to do in such a short period of time
is phenomenal.”
With the offseason just getting underway, Team
Patr?n already has their sights set on 2012. Over
the next few months, both Kalitta Motorsports Funny
Car teams will have the exciting opportunity to
test out a brand new Toyota Camry body before it
even goes into production.
“The new body is still being built, but as
soon as it’s ready, we’ll hit the track
and get in as many test sessions as we possibly
can. One of our goals during the off-season is to
get down into the 4.0’s [seconds] and
I have no doubt that between our crew’s
ability, Alexis’ skill and our new
state-of-the-art Toyota Camry that we will have any
trouble accomplishing that,” says
Oberhofer.
Source: www.alexisdejoria.com//news_comments.php?id=171
Alexis DeJoria pursues her
own dreams
Alexis DeJoria will spend the weekend in Ennis, at
the Texas Motorplex. It’s loud, it’s
dirty, and there is nowhere else she’d rather
be.
“It’s gone from, I really like to do
this, I wonder if I can do this part time, to, this
is a full-time job and running a team,” said
DeJoria.
DeJoria has been racing for four years and is
the only woman to own and operate a racing team in
the National Hot Rod Association. Her father
founded Paul Mitchell hair care systems — a
billion dollar a year business — so she had
other options.
“But at the end of the day I was like, I
really need to go find what’s my
passion,” said DeJoria, “what I really
want to succeed in.”
Her first couple years were not very successful.
But then she got her own team two years ago, and
her career took off. She made the finals at this
track a year ago, and is only the second woman to
win three races in a row.
“They saw this change in her,” said
her crew chief Nick Bastiao. “Now, she’s
not just this rich girl — she’s a racer.
And if you’re not careful, she’s going to
beat you.”
Any questions as to how serious DeJoria is about
the sport were answered in June 2009, when she
stayed with it, even after a horrific crash in new
jersey.
“You can see it on the video,” said
DeJoria. “As soon as they (her parachutes)
blossomed, boom, they’re gone. They just fly
away.”
She lost her parachutes and her brakes
didn’t work.
“And I just aimed for the center of the
nets and took my hands off the wheel and kind of
clenched them into my chest as soon as my front
wheels went into the sand,” said DeJoria.
“And I have no control over where the car was
going or what direction, just braced for impact,
and that’s it.”
Besides a couple of bruised knees, she emerged
from the crash uninjured. This weekend she hopes to
make a name for herself as a winner.
Results
2011: Raced at four
national events: Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas 2 and
Pomona 2
2010: Earned nitro
Funny Car license; won first Alcohol Funny Car
event
National Championship Points
|
Points
|
Sum
|
Type
|
Event Coe/Location
|
Date
|
|
43
|
43
|
HD
|
21-Bradenton, FL
|
02/15/2009
|
|
32
|
75
|
HD
|
22-Gainesville, FL
|
02/22/2009
|
|
53
|
128
|
NA
|
GF1-Gainesville, FL
|
03/15/2009
|
|
31
|
128
|
NA
|
HT1-Houston, TX
|
03/29/2009
|
|
32
|
160
|
HD
|
24-Cecil, GA
|
04/05/2009
|
|
31
|
160
|
NA
|
TK1-Topeka, KS
|
05/31/2009
|
|
53
|
213
|
NA
|
EJ1-Englishtown, NJ
|
06/14/2009
|
|
42
|
255
|
NA
|
II1-Clermont, IN
|
09/07/2009
|
|
32
|
255
|
HD
|
25-Commerce, GA
|
09/13/2009
|
|
64
|
319
|
NA
|
DT1-Ennis, TX
|
09/27/2009
|
|
85
|
404
|
HD
|
26-Reynolds, GA
|
10/18/2009
|
|
64
|
468
|
NA
|
LN2-Las Vegas, NV
|
11/01/2009
|
|
43
|
511
|
OD
|
77-Las Vegas, NV
|
11/08/2009
|
|
10
|
511
|
NA
|
PC2-Pomona, CA
|
11/15/2009
|
|
Type: HD=Home Div,
NA=National Event, OD=Out of Div
|
Schedule
* * *
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