LAS VEGAS (Nov. 2, 2025) –With two prior wins at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Alexis DeJoria was hoping a little Vegas luck would help her first-year JCM Racing Bandero Café Funny Car team break through for their first win as a team. Three solid passes during qualifying placed DeJoria ninth out of 21 cars vying for a spot in the Sunday show, but traction issues during the first round of eliminations caused the five-time semifinalist in 2025 to bow out early at the NHRA Nevada Nationals.
DeJoria opened the weekend by running a stout 3.948-second at 330.96 mph pass during the first qualifying session to place her in the provisional No. 2 position. She made another good run during Q2, clocking a 3.938 E.T. and backed that up with a 3.946-second pass on Saturday afternoon. In the final qualifying session, DeJoria’s machine was up in smoke early, and she settled into the No. 9 position in the final Funny Car order.
Race day pitted DeJoria against her former teammate J.R. Todd in the first elimination round. The two had previously met 17 times in eliminations, with DeJoria carrying a winning record of 10 round wins over Todd. Unfortunately, Todd was able to get his eighth round-win over DeJoria when she ran into traction issues and slowed to a 4.338 E.T. while he made a clean pass of 3.926 seconds in the opposite lane.
“This Bandero Café team didn’t have the outcome we wanted today, but we made three consistent runs during qualifying,” said DeJoria. “We only had one run where we smoked the tires in the middle. Really thought it was our day today, but we’re going to stay behind and test tomorrow and get ready for Pomona.”
DeJoria leaves Las Vegas ranked twelfth in the Funny Car point standings. She will attempt to move back into the top 10 when the NHRA heads to Pomona, Calif., for the season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, Nov. 14 – 16.
Qualified: No. 9 (3.938 E.T. at 328.78 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 4.338 E.T. at 209.69 MPH defeated by J.R. Todd 3.926 E.T. at 328.14 MPH
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DeJoria opened the weekend by running a stout 3.948-second at 330.96 mph pass during the first qualifying session to place her in the provisional No. 2 position. She made another good run during Q2, clocking a 3.938 E.T. and backed that up with a 3.946-second pass on Saturday afternoon. In the final qualifying session, DeJoria’s machine was up in smoke early, and she settled into the No. 9 position in the final Funny Car order.
Race day pitted DeJoria against her former teammate J.R. Todd in the first elimination round. The two had previously met 17 times in eliminations, with DeJoria carrying a winning record of 10 round wins over Todd. Unfortunately, Todd was able to get his eighth round-win over DeJoria when she ran into traction issues and slowed to a 4.338 E.T. while he made a clean pass of 3.926 seconds in the opposite lane.
“This Bandero Café team didn’t have the outcome we wanted today, but we made three consistent runs during qualifying,” said DeJoria. “We only had one run where we smoked the tires in the middle. Really thought it was our day today, but we’re going to stay behind and test tomorrow and get ready for Pomona.”
DeJoria leaves Las Vegas ranked twelfth in the Funny Car point standings. She will attempt to move back into the top 10 when the NHRA heads to Pomona, Calif., for the season-ending In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals, Nov. 14 – 16.
Qualified: No. 9 (3.938 E.T. at 328.78 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 4.338 E.T. at 209.69 MPH defeated by J.R. Todd 3.926 E.T. at 328.14 MPH
Continue reading...
