Bittersweet Ending for Team Patrón

POMONA, Calif. (November 10, 2013)— After qualifying in the No. 15 spot on the Funny Car ‘Quick 16’ ladder, Alexis DeJoria, driver of the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car, faced No. 2 qualifier Matt Hagan in round one of eliminations on Sunday morning at the 49^th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.

The two, which had squared off at the previous race in Las Vegas with DeJoria coming out the victor, were fifth pair up in Funny Car. Without the advantage of lane choice, Team Patrón was designated the left lane, which had been troublesome for nearly all of the teams that ran prior to them. The left lane proved to be no issue for DeJoria as she powered her 10,000-horsepower black and green Toyota Camry to an impressive run of 4.056-seconds at 314.24-mph- the second quickest of the session. Although she had the quicker car, Hagan advanced to round two with his 4.059-sec holeshot win, ending Team Green’s day.

“We didn’t do so hot in qualifying this weekend, but man did we step it up first round,” said DeJoria, who has visited four semi-final rounds this season. “Tommy [DeLago, crew chief] had the car tuned up good and we made the second quickest pass of the whole session. Unfortunately, I came up a little short at the starting line and Hagan got the jump on me. It’s just one of those things; it happens every once in a while. It was a really great run that ended up being a bittersweet loss.”

With the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Series now behind her, DeJoria reflects on the team’s accomplishments and looks forward to the future. “I’m excited about next season, and applying everything we’ve learned and accomplished this year. I think next year we’re going to be a much stronger team. There’s going to be a few changes. We’ll go into the 2014 season with a fresh outlook, and I’m confident that we’ll be successful. I’m very grateful to my team and our sponsors for supporting us and I can’t wait to get back out there next year.”

Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car team finished the season in twelfth place with 991 points. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com.

TV Schedule

Qualifying

November 10, 2:30AM-4AM EST

November 10, 2PM-3PM EST (Re-Air)

ESPN2

Eliminations

November 10, 7-10PM 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.