Early Exit for Team Patrón in the Windy City

JOLIET, Ill. (June 30, 2013)— After losing one round of qualifying on Friday due to inclement weather, the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car team went into Sunday’s eliminations qualified in the No. 14 spot facing reigning NHRA World Champion Jack Beckman at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals with their 4.124-second run from Friday’s only session.

While waiting for Mother Nature to roll through the Windy City on Friday, and knowing that Saturday’s weather may be touch-and-go as well, Team Patrón crew chief Tommy DeLago set driver Alexis DeJoria’s Patrón hot rod with a conservative tune-up, ensuring the Toyota Camry would make it down the track on all eight cylinders. That 4.124-sec pass would carry Team Green through the weekend as the car struggled to make it down the track in Saturday’s qualifying sessions.

 “I’m disappointed that it was another early Sunday for Team Patrón this weekend, but I’m happy that we qualified- that’s the most important thing. Going up against Beckman, I left the line really well. I had a great .059-sec reaction time and our Patrón Toyota Camry was ahead of him until down-track. Unfortunately, we ended up smoking the tires and he drove around us, ending our day,” said DeJoria.

“We’re just trying to some new things with the car- trying to find the ‘sweet spot.’ This last combination seemed to work out for the most part. We just need some more time with it to fine tune it and get it just right. Once they get everything figured out, it’ll be awesome. We’re all working so hard. It’s only a matter of time and I’m confident that we’ll see the performance that we want out of this car sooner rather than later.”

Team Patrón will have the opportunity to race again in just a few short days as the NHRA rolls into Norwalk, Ohio later this week for the 7th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, the final race of a grueling four week back-to-back stretch. They currently sit in the No. 12 spot on the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship points list with 503 points. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com. Follow us on Twitter: @ADR_Nitro771 and Like Us on Facebook: Alexis DeJoria.

TV Schedule

Eliminations

June 30, 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.

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