NORWALK, Ohio (June 29, 2025) – As the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series hits its midway mark, Funny Car standout Alexis DeJoria continues to demonstrate consistency and resilience behind the wheel of her Bandero Café Funny Car. At the NHRA Norwalk Nationals this weekend in Norwalk, Ohio, the JCM Racing driver qualified in the top half of a stacked Funny Car field for the sixth time this season, adding to an already strong campaign that includes three semifinal finishes. While an early exit on race day wasn’t the result the team had hoped for, DeJoria remains focused on growth, confident in the team’s momentum and the direction they’re heading.
DeJoria opened qualifying on Friday with a strong lap of 4.065 seconds at 321.65 mph. That evening, under the lights of Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, DeJoria lit up the sky with brilliant header flames to record a run of 3.960 seconds at 327.11 mph. After a phenomenal Friday qualifying effort, DeJoria ran into tire smoke in both Saturday sessions. Her fast Friday night pass held strong and put her in the No. 6 qualifier position going into eliminations.
DeJoria faced No. 11 qualifier Dave Richards in the first round of competition on Sunday. The duo left the starting line within two-thousandths of each other and DeJoria took over the lead by the time they passed the Christmas Tree. Soon after, however, the Bandero Café Funny Car encountered tire smoke. Richards started dropping cylinders toward the finish line as DeJoria worked to pedal her way back into the lead, but she ran out of track before she could outpace him.
“It’s another tough first-round loss,” said DeJoria. “It’s just one of those things. There’s a certain point on the track that plagued us yesterday as well. We smoked the tires at that point. I tried to pedal it, but then I saw Dave go right past me. It’s tough, but it wasn’t anything catastrophic. We know exactly what happened. And what we would’ve done differently. We’re building this program right now. Does it suck losing first round? Yes, it does. Are any of us happy about it? No. But we are also taking into consideration the fact that we are building. We’re learning together. And that’s the key. We’re in it together. We are going in the right direction, and I am happy with what we’ve accomplished so far. It’s only the beginning.”
In three weeks, DeJoria and the Bandero Café Funny Car team will head to Seattle for the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, July 18-20.
Qualified: No. 6 (3.960 E.T. at 327.11 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 4.703 E.T. at 225.53 MPH defeated by Dave Richards 4.196 E.T. at 280.60)
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DeJoria opened qualifying on Friday with a strong lap of 4.065 seconds at 321.65 mph. That evening, under the lights of Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, DeJoria lit up the sky with brilliant header flames to record a run of 3.960 seconds at 327.11 mph. After a phenomenal Friday qualifying effort, DeJoria ran into tire smoke in both Saturday sessions. Her fast Friday night pass held strong and put her in the No. 6 qualifier position going into eliminations.
DeJoria faced No. 11 qualifier Dave Richards in the first round of competition on Sunday. The duo left the starting line within two-thousandths of each other and DeJoria took over the lead by the time they passed the Christmas Tree. Soon after, however, the Bandero Café Funny Car encountered tire smoke. Richards started dropping cylinders toward the finish line as DeJoria worked to pedal her way back into the lead, but she ran out of track before she could outpace him.
“It’s another tough first-round loss,” said DeJoria. “It’s just one of those things. There’s a certain point on the track that plagued us yesterday as well. We smoked the tires at that point. I tried to pedal it, but then I saw Dave go right past me. It’s tough, but it wasn’t anything catastrophic. We know exactly what happened. And what we would’ve done differently. We’re building this program right now. Does it suck losing first round? Yes, it does. Are any of us happy about it? No. But we are also taking into consideration the fact that we are building. We’re learning together. And that’s the key. We’re in it together. We are going in the right direction, and I am happy with what we’ve accomplished so far. It’s only the beginning.”
In three weeks, DeJoria and the Bandero Café Funny Car team will head to Seattle for the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways, July 18-20.
Qualified: No. 6 (3.960 E.T. at 327.11 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 4.703 E.T. at 225.53 MPH defeated by Dave Richards 4.196 E.T. at 280.60)
Continue reading...
