GAINESVILLE, Fla. (MARCH 5, 2026) – Gainesville Raceway holds a very special space in Alexis DeJoria’s nitro Funny Car career which will only expand as she prepares to make her John Force Racing debut in the Bandero Premium Tequila Chevrolet SS Funny Car at the AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.
It was her new car owner, 16-time NHRA Funny Car Champion John Force, who signed off on her Funny Car license prior to her 2011 rookie season. And it was the same John Force whom she lined up against at the 2012 Gatornationals, beating her hero to the finish to earn her first Funny Car round win.
The six-time Funny Car race winner and six-time No. 1 Qualifier now has the opportunity to compete for her legendary racing hero and she’s made the best of it in pre-season testing, already eclipsing her personal career record speed with a lap of 337.24 mph two weeks ago. DeJoria has every reason to believe her 13th season of NHRA Funny Car competition will be her best ever and just the beginning of a successful new chapter of her career.
Quotes
You’re now through two full tests at John Force Racing so what are your thoughts on your performance and how the how the team is coming along?
We’ve tested a lot prior to the first race of the season. We made 13 runs the first week, and we’ve made three, four, five runs for this second week of testing. I feel very confident in my abilities and in my team’s abilities. I have the utmost faith in this race car. It’s the best race car I’ve ever driven. We’ve had great runs. We’ve had not so great runs, but we’ve learned and we’ve progressed, and this Bandero team is ready.
Now that you’re part of John Force Racing, how much more does it mean to you to be driving for your hero, John Force?
Honestly, it’s a dream come true. I’ve watched John Force Race since I was 16 years old, sitting in the stands. People like him, and Del Worsham, Funny Car drivers like that, is really what drew me to the sport. John Force signed my Funny Car license, so to be able to say that I’m racing for this man, uh, the legend John Force, to be running the big John Force X on my race car is surreal and I feel very honored.
It’s a new team to but you have some familiar faces in crew chief Mike Neff and others. How does that help the whole process in getting used to working for a different team?
Ideally, you want to keep the same the same crew, the same team … familiarity. Everybody knows each other. Everybody works well together. So that’s really what you want. I did tell everybody, before we made the move over, that the door is open. I would have loved for everyone to come along. About half the guys came and that was fantastic. We got Zippy (Neff) and Phil (Zwart), who’s been with me since day one when I started. We have Jeff (Accacian). We have James (Naumann) and we have Binion (Jones) and a couple new guys and they’ve all gelled right away. I think we’re going to have a great year.
Number starts: 12
Wins: 0
No. 1 qualifier: 0
Final rounds: 0
Event Round Record: 10-12
Track & TV Schedules
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying features two rounds at 1:30 and 4 p.m. ET on Friday, March 6, and the final two qualifying rounds on Saturday, March 7 at 12:30 and 3 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 8.
The first round of the Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout takes place at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, with the semifinals slated for 2:15 p.m. and the final round at 3:30 p.m. A special Callout broadcast will also air at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday on FS1.
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It was her new car owner, 16-time NHRA Funny Car Champion John Force, who signed off on her Funny Car license prior to her 2011 rookie season. And it was the same John Force whom she lined up against at the 2012 Gatornationals, beating her hero to the finish to earn her first Funny Car round win.
The six-time Funny Car race winner and six-time No. 1 Qualifier now has the opportunity to compete for her legendary racing hero and she’s made the best of it in pre-season testing, already eclipsing her personal career record speed with a lap of 337.24 mph two weeks ago. DeJoria has every reason to believe her 13th season of NHRA Funny Car competition will be her best ever and just the beginning of a successful new chapter of her career.
Quotes
You’re now through two full tests at John Force Racing so what are your thoughts on your performance and how the how the team is coming along?
We’ve tested a lot prior to the first race of the season. We made 13 runs the first week, and we’ve made three, four, five runs for this second week of testing. I feel very confident in my abilities and in my team’s abilities. I have the utmost faith in this race car. It’s the best race car I’ve ever driven. We’ve had great runs. We’ve had not so great runs, but we’ve learned and we’ve progressed, and this Bandero team is ready.
Now that you’re part of John Force Racing, how much more does it mean to you to be driving for your hero, John Force?
Honestly, it’s a dream come true. I’ve watched John Force Race since I was 16 years old, sitting in the stands. People like him, and Del Worsham, Funny Car drivers like that, is really what drew me to the sport. John Force signed my Funny Car license, so to be able to say that I’m racing for this man, uh, the legend John Force, to be running the big John Force X on my race car is surreal and I feel very honored.
It’s a new team to but you have some familiar faces in crew chief Mike Neff and others. How does that help the whole process in getting used to working for a different team?
Ideally, you want to keep the same the same crew, the same team … familiarity. Everybody knows each other. Everybody works well together. So that’s really what you want. I did tell everybody, before we made the move over, that the door is open. I would have loved for everyone to come along. About half the guys came and that was fantastic. We got Zippy (Neff) and Phil (Zwart), who’s been with me since day one when I started. We have Jeff (Accacian). We have James (Naumann) and we have Binion (Jones) and a couple new guys and they’ve all gelled right away. I think we’re going to have a great year.
| Alexis DeJoria | Race Result | Qualified | Event Round Record |
| 2011 (FC) | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A |
| 2012 (FC) | 2nd round | 10th | 1-1 |
| 2013 (FC) | 2nd round | 10th | 2-2 |
| 2014 (FC) | 1st round | 14th | 2-3 |
| 2015 (FC) | 2nd round | 11th | 3-4 |
| 2016 (FC) | 1st round | 11th | 3-5 |
| 2017 (FC) | 1st round | 11th | 3-6 |
| 2018 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A |
| 2019 | Did Not Compete | N/A | N/A |
| 2020 (FC) | 2nd round | 5th | 4-7 |
| 2021 (FC) | 2nd round | 2nd | 5-8 |
| 2022 (FC) | 1st round | 5th | 5-9 |
| 2023 (FC) | Semi-finals | 9th | 7-10 |
| 2024 (FC) | 2nd round | 7th | 8-11 |
| 2025 (FC) | Semi-finals | 7th | 10-12 |
Number starts: 12
Wins: 0
No. 1 qualifier: 0
Final rounds: 0
Event Round Record: 10-12
Track & TV Schedules
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying features two rounds at 1:30 and 4 p.m. ET on Friday, March 6, and the final two qualifying rounds on Saturday, March 7 at 12:30 and 3 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 10 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 8.
The first round of the Right Trailers Top Fuel All-Star Callout takes place at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, with the semifinals slated for 2:15 p.m. and the final round at 3:30 p.m. A special Callout broadcast will also air at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday on FS1.
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