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DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (August 27, 2013)—With “The Big Go” just days away, Alexis DeJoria, driver of the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car, is gearing up for a jam-packed week leading up to the most prestigious event of the season- the 59th annual U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.
“I’m so excited to get to Indy. We have such a busy week ahead. My week kicks off with some in-studio media appearances on Wednesday morning. From there, we’ll head over to Monument Circle for the NHRA Traxxas Shootout Fanfest. I’m especially excited for that because the eighth and final spot for the Traxxas Shootout will be determined at the Fanfest. Our team has more votes than we did last year, so I’d say we have a good chance of taking that last spot. The competition is pretty tight this year, so it’ll be exciting to see who comes out on top. Hopefully, it’s us!” said the driver, now in her sophomore season as Funny Car pilot.
“On Thursday, I’ll be walking the red carpet with my husband and my team at the Indy premiere of the Snake & Mongoose movie. I had a small role in the movie, and it was such a cool thing to be a part of. I’ve heard great reviews and everyone seems to be really excited about it, so I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product,” she said of the Avon, Ind. premiere to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Because of the city’s strong ties to motorsports, Indianapolis was chosen, along with Los Angeles, to host the red carpet event.
“Of course all the fanfare during the week is just setting the stage for the main event- the U.S. Nationals, aka ‘The Big Go.’ As a team, we feel much more confident going into this weekend’s race than we have in a while. We spent some time testing last week, and I really think we’ve found our tune-up. We made six runs, and we learned so much. We found the issues and now we know what to do, and what not to do,” she said speaking of Team Patrón’s one-day test session last Thursday at the Indianapolis track. “We finished out the day on a good note with our Patrón Toyota Camry running 4.04-seconds at 310-mph- and that was only on seven cylinders- so that last run in particular was pretty promising.”
With six informative test passes under their belt, Team Patrón hopes that their success during the test day will translate to success on the track during the race weekend. The black-and-green team is ripe for a win, and morale is high. “Overall, I’d say we feel pretty good,” said DeJoria, whose daughter turns 11 during the weekend, and will continue the yearly tradition of celebrating with a ‘pit party.’ “I think it’s safe to say we all feel pretty confident going into this race. Perhaps this could be our weekend. Hopefully, we’ll qualify well and come out victors on Monday! To pick up our first win as a team at such a historic race, and in front of so many friends and family would be amazing.”
Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car team begin qualifying for the 59th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals at 7PM EST on Friday, August 30. For more information, please visit www.alexisdejoria.com. Follow us on Twitter: @ADR_Nitro771 and Like Us on Facebook: Alexis DeJoria. Be sure to tune in to the ‘Alexis DeJoria NHRA Racing Report’ every Friday at 1PM EST on www.RaceTalkRadio.com.
TV Schedule
Qualifying
September 1, 1PM-6PM EST
ESPN2
Eliminations
September 2, 12PM-6PM 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.