Short Day for Team Patron at Inaugural New England Event

EPPING, N.H. (June 23, 2013) Round one of eliminations at the inaugural NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, N.H. was the setting for an epic matchup between friends, and the only two female Funny Car drivers competing in the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, Alexis DeJoria and Courtney Force.

The two women, both in their sophomore seasons as professional drivers, are constantly pitted by the media as rivals, and while both are fierce competitors and hungry to be the best, they’€™re close friends both on track and off.

Prior to the New England Nationals, the two have met in eliminations only once this year, with DeJoria, pilot of the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car coming away the victor, (Rd. 1, NHRA Spring Nationals, Baytown, Texas). In their second 2013 matchup at the New England Dragway on Sunday, No. 14 qualifier DeJoria did not fare as well against No. 3 qualifier Force, running a 4.295-second pass to Force’s 4.128.

“€œUnfortunately, we didn’t get the win in first round today,” said DeJoria, who presented Force with a birthday card at the NHRA Driver Introductions earlier in the day.

“We had a little bit of a malfunction in our timing system, which caused us to drop a cylinder so our Patron Toyota Camry was only running on seven cylinders. We made it down the track, but it just wasn’€™t fast enough. The malfunction was plaguing us all weekend, causing us to run a lot slower than everyone else. When your car is not firing on all eight cylinders, it’s just hard to make those fast runs. But thankfully, we’€™ve since been able to identify the problem, so we shouldn’t find these same issues going into our next race in Chicago. We’€™ll leave here with our heads held high, keep plugging along, and keep pushing. We’re a good team, and we’re going to get there- we’€™ll get that first win soon.€”

“Overall, it was still a good weekend for Team Patron. It was cool to get to experience a new track and new town for the first time together as a team. Plus, it was nice to have my Rhode Island family out here supporting me this weekend. It was my mom‒s birthday on Friday, and she came out to the track. It was awesome to be able to celebrate with her.”

Alexis DeJoria and the Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patron Toyota Camry Funny Car team compete next at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill., June 28-30. They continue to occupy the No. 12 spot on the NHRA Countdown to the Championship points list with 472 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 23, 7PM-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 PatroŒn, 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.