BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 6, 2025) – Alexis DeJoria, the driver of the Bandero Café Funny Car, powered her way to the provisional No. 1 qualifier spot today at the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. The JCM Racing team snagged the highly coveted position in the second NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying session of the day, just moments before rain brought racing action to a close at Bristol Dragway.
With rain and humidity complicating track conditions throughout the day, DeJoria’s first pass put her in the 10th spot on the qualifying sheet. In the second session, her Bandero Café Funny Car team, led by Mike Neff and Todd Smith, expertly tuned the 12,000-horsepower hot rod, and DeJoria roared down the track to record a run of 3.948 seconds at 328.14 mph, earning three valuable bonus points with the fastest pass of the session.
“Making the fastest pass of the day; it really raises the bar and the momentum for our team,” said DeJoria. “The team spirit is great. Everybody is happy and smiling. It just feels good. Who knows if it’s going to hold? If it does, great. If it doesn’t, who cares? Today we have the No. 1 and that’s important. It says a lot about our new team. This track has always been good to me, and this is JCM Racing’s home event, so that makes it really special for our team owner, Joe (Maynard), as well.”
If DeJoria’s spot on the ladder holds, it will be her second No. 1 qualifier at Bristol Dragway and the seventh of her career. She qualified first at the Thunder Valley Nationals in 2021 and went on to win the event title that weekend.
DeJoria’s semifinal finish last weekend in Epping, N.H., qualified her to compete in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, a race-within-a-race that takes place during qualifying on Saturday. The Bandero Café Funny Car team will work to earn more qualifying bonus points for JCM Racing while simultaneously competing to win the challenge. After today’s success, DeJoria and her team are ready to turn up the heat as racing action continues tomorrow.
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With rain and humidity complicating track conditions throughout the day, DeJoria’s first pass put her in the 10th spot on the qualifying sheet. In the second session, her Bandero Café Funny Car team, led by Mike Neff and Todd Smith, expertly tuned the 12,000-horsepower hot rod, and DeJoria roared down the track to record a run of 3.948 seconds at 328.14 mph, earning three valuable bonus points with the fastest pass of the session.
“Making the fastest pass of the day; it really raises the bar and the momentum for our team,” said DeJoria. “The team spirit is great. Everybody is happy and smiling. It just feels good. Who knows if it’s going to hold? If it does, great. If it doesn’t, who cares? Today we have the No. 1 and that’s important. It says a lot about our new team. This track has always been good to me, and this is JCM Racing’s home event, so that makes it really special for our team owner, Joe (Maynard), as well.”
If DeJoria’s spot on the ladder holds, it will be her second No. 1 qualifier at Bristol Dragway and the seventh of her career. She qualified first at the Thunder Valley Nationals in 2021 and went on to win the event title that weekend.
DeJoria’s semifinal finish last weekend in Epping, N.H., qualified her to compete in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge, a race-within-a-race that takes place during qualifying on Saturday. The Bandero Café Funny Car team will work to earn more qualifying bonus points for JCM Racing while simultaneously competing to win the challenge. After today’s success, DeJoria and her team are ready to turn up the heat as racing action continues tomorrow.
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