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Alexis DeJoria: Driver of the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry
The Results:
Q1: 6.013 ET at 113.46 MPH
Q2: 4.145 ET at 303.78 MPH
Q3: 4.175 ET at 259.86 MPH
Q4: 4.167 ET at 286.44 MPH
The Competition:
No. 14 Alexis DeJoria vs. No. 3 John Force
Quotables:
Alexis DeJoria, Driver
“It was another interesting weekend of qualifying here in Brainerd. We made it down the track on three out of our four runs, which is awesome. We had some consistent passes, and we were on a great run in Q4 until we had a little tire spinning at the top end, but I drove through it and ran a 4.16. When it was all said and done, we ended up qualifying in the No. 14 spot with our 4.145 from Q2, which puts us against John Force in round one tomorrow. It’s so fitting that we’re racing him in the first round, because we had each other in E1 last year and it was such a crazy round, to say the least. He red lit but I didn’t know, so when my car got loose, I started to pedal and just kept pedaling and ended up skimming the center line. He ended up getting a freebie, but I can tell you right now, that’s not going to happen again tomorrow!”
Tommy DeLago, Crew Chief
“We were on a good run in both Q3 and Q4 today. We ran well to the 330-foot mark and had good early numbers. The groove is really narrow out there in the left lane and she got one tire out of the groove in Q3 and couldn’t keep it in, so she shut it off to be safe. Then in Q4, we were on about the same run, but I’m pretty sure there was still some oil out there from Bob Bode’s fire because there were four cars, including us, that came loose in the same spot. There’s no reason that it should’ve come loose like that, even looking at the data. Tomorrow, we’ll just go after it, go hard, and try and haul butt against Force.”
TV Schedule
Qualifying
August 17, 11PM-1AM EST
ESPN2
Eliminations
August 18, 9PM-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.