CHANDLER, Ariz. (March 22, 2026) – After a phenomenal start to her tenure with John Force Racing (JFR), Alexis DeJoria was eager to hit the track at Firebird Motorsports Park and contend for her second Arizona Nationals trophy, but a red-light start against teammate Jordan Vandergriff in the opening round of eliminations Sunday dashed her hopes of reaching the final round for the second consecutive event.
An unprecedented Arizona heat wave created challenging race conditions as drivers and crews worked to master the hot, greasy track. In the first session of qualifying, DeJoria demonstrated why drag racing legend John Force selected her to join his esteemed program. Her Bandero Café Funny Car got loose after dropping a cylinder around the half-track mark, but the veteran driver expertly handled the 12,000-horsepower vehicle and powered to a solid run of 4.081 seconds at 298.47 mph.
In the second qualifying opportunity on Friday, DeJoria drove her Chevrolet SS to the second-fastest pass of the session, laying down a 4.150 at 272.78 to score two championship bonus points.
By advancing to the semifinals at the season opener in Gainesville, Fla., DeJoria secured her spot in the first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season on Saturday. She won the inaugural race-within-a-race at Phoenix in 2023. Facing J.R. Todd in a rematch of their Gatornationals semifinals pairing during Q3, DeJoria ran into tire smoke and ceded the win to Todd, who went on to win the bonus event.
At the conclusion of qualifying, DeJoria settled into the No. 12 starting position for eliminations, where she inadvertently stood on the throttle early against No. 5 qualifier Vandergriff, giving him the round win.
“It’s been a tricky weekend,” said DeJoria, who leaves Arizona ranked sixth in the Funny Car standings. “We didn’t make any full pulls down the racetrack. We were lucky to get a 4.08 out of that first run when it smoked the tires, and I had to drive it a bit at the top end. This morning, we had to race one of our teammates, Jordan Vandergriff. On one side, at least one of us went to the second round, but it’s never ideal when you have to go up against a teammate. It’s been ridiculously hot out here. I feel really bad for the guys on the crew who’ve been working so hard in this 106-degree weather, just so I could go out there and red light.”
DeJoria and her John Force Racing Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team will now set their sights on redemption at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, April 10-12, at her home track, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, in Pomona, Calif.
Qualified: No. 12 (4.081 E.T. at 298.47 MPH)
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An unprecedented Arizona heat wave created challenging race conditions as drivers and crews worked to master the hot, greasy track. In the first session of qualifying, DeJoria demonstrated why drag racing legend John Force selected her to join his esteemed program. Her Bandero Café Funny Car got loose after dropping a cylinder around the half-track mark, but the veteran driver expertly handled the 12,000-horsepower vehicle and powered to a solid run of 4.081 seconds at 298.47 mph.
In the second qualifying opportunity on Friday, DeJoria drove her Chevrolet SS to the second-fastest pass of the session, laying down a 4.150 at 272.78 to score two championship bonus points.
By advancing to the semifinals at the season opener in Gainesville, Fla., DeJoria secured her spot in the first Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge of the season on Saturday. She won the inaugural race-within-a-race at Phoenix in 2023. Facing J.R. Todd in a rematch of their Gatornationals semifinals pairing during Q3, DeJoria ran into tire smoke and ceded the win to Todd, who went on to win the bonus event.
At the conclusion of qualifying, DeJoria settled into the No. 12 starting position for eliminations, where she inadvertently stood on the throttle early against No. 5 qualifier Vandergriff, giving him the round win.
“It’s been a tricky weekend,” said DeJoria, who leaves Arizona ranked sixth in the Funny Car standings. “We didn’t make any full pulls down the racetrack. We were lucky to get a 4.08 out of that first run when it smoked the tires, and I had to drive it a bit at the top end. This morning, we had to race one of our teammates, Jordan Vandergriff. On one side, at least one of us went to the second round, but it’s never ideal when you have to go up against a teammate. It’s been ridiculously hot out here. I feel really bad for the guys on the crew who’ve been working so hard in this 106-degree weather, just so I could go out there and red light.”
DeJoria and her John Force Racing Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car team will now set their sights on redemption at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, April 10-12, at her home track, In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, in Pomona, Calif.
Qualified: No. 12 (4.081 E.T. at 298.47 MPH)
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