Alexis DeJoria Hopes History Repeats Itself at Bristol

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (June 12, 2013)— As the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car team roars into Thunder Valley today, they’re hoping history will repeat itself at Bristol Dragway- the picturesque track that cuts through the Appalachian Mountains.  It was at this race last year, the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, where the Patrón team had their very first taste of what it would be like to win a national NHRA event.

After three rounds of defeating seasoned veteran drivers, first-year Funny Car pilot Alexis DeJoria and her rookie team made it all the way to the final-round- an impressive feat for a novice team. While they ended up falling to Ron Capps in the finals, a runner-up finish proved to everyone that Team Patrón was not to be taken lightly.  At their very next race in Chicago they advanced into the semi-finals. Now, with a four week stretch of back-to-back racing on the horizon, kicking off with this weekend’s event in Bristol, Team Patrón hopes to get things off to a good start at the state-of-the-art facility in the foothills of Tennessee.

“After a weekend off from racing, we’re all definitely looking forward to getting back out there in Bristol,” said DeJoria, now in her sophomore season. “We’ve had some success so far this year, with two semi-final appearances, but we seem to have veered a little off track over these past few races. I think our entire team is looking towards this weekend to revive our season. I know I speak for the whole team when I say that last year’s Bristol race ranks high on the ‘best memories of 2012’ list. We were so close. We were pretty certain we could, and would, win this race last year.”

“Bristol kicks off four weeks of nonstop racing- we go from Bristol to Epping, N.H., to Chicago, to Norwalk, Ohio. Both Bristol and Chicago were good races for us last year, and I’m excited to  check out the Epping track for the very first time, so I’m hoping this weekend sets a good tone and builds  momentum for this four-race stretch.”

The Patrón team currently sits in the No. 12 spot on the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship points list with 388 points. “We spent some time in the Top Ten for a few races, and we so desperately need to go rounds this weekend to help bring us back up. We’re a Top Ten team and we should be on that list. We have all the components to be a successful, competitive race team- we have a ton of brainpower in our camp, a hardworking crew, and a fast hot rod. We just need all of these components to come together on race day. “

“We are certainly hoping history can repeat itself this weekend, but instead of finishing as runner-up, we’d like to finish out Sunday standing with our well-deserved Wally in the Winner’s Circle.”

Alexis DeJoria and her Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car team will begin qualifying for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn., at 6PM EST on Friday, June 14.  For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com. Follow us on Twitter: @ADR_Nitro771 and Like Us on Facebook: Alexis DeJoria.

TV Schedule

Qualifying

June 15, 7PM-9:30PM EST

ESPN2

Eliminations

June 16,1PM-3PM EST

June 16, 11PM-12AM EST

ESPN2

About Alexis DeJoria

Alexis DeJoria, daughter of the famed John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems and proud owner of Tequila Patrόn, is a professional NHRA race car driver, competing in the nitro Funny Car class on the Kalitta Motorsports team. Alexis drives a Tequila Patrόn-sponsored 2013 Toyota Camry. Alexis, who had all the opportunity in the world to pursue any type of career, felt strongly about following her passion, and her need for adrenaline drove her to pursue the unlikely profession of auto-racing. The determination to ‘blaze her own trail’ continues to drive her and push her to higher levels in male dominated sport of drag racing.

About Kalitta Motorsports

Based in Ypsilanti, Mich., Kalitta Motorsports is a Top Fuel and Funny Car drag racing team in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. The team was founded and is owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta. For more than 50 years, Connie has been involved in the sport as a driver, tuner, and an owner. Kalitta Motorsports is one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing with five world championships and over 50 national event titles in five different professional drag racing sanctioning bodies since it was established by Connie in 1959.