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Alexis DeJoria powered her Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra to a semifinal finish at the 2022 NHRA Camping World Series’ final event on Sunday afternoon. By advancing deep into Sunday’s elimination rounds, DeJoria moved up one position in the Funny Car standings to clinch the No. 7 spot to finish the year.

At the 2022 season-opener in February, DeJoria had the honor of earning the first win light in the new Toyota Supra Funny Car for Toyota Gazoo Racing when she defeated Jim Campbell in round one of eliminations, and at this weekend’s NHRA Finals, she notched another memorable moment when she reset her career-best E.T. on Saturday evening during the final qualifying session. Aboard her 11,000-horsepower machine, DeJoria clocked a blistering 3.862-second at 333.00-mph pass to best her personal E.T. record, and secure the No. 6 qualifying spot.

DeJoria drew Jim Campbell as her first-round opponent on Sunday morning. Her machine dropped a cylinder and started shoving her hard toward the centerline. She wrangled it back over and outpaced Campbell for the win to set up a quarterfinal contest with Steven Densham where she clocked a 3.914 E.T. to outrun her opponent’s 4.065-second effort. In the semifinals, DeJoria faced eventual race winner Cruz Pedregon. The two Top 10-ranked drivers were nearly even leaving the starting line and charged hard side-by-side down the track, but Pedregon edged past as they approached the finish line for the win.

“Our goal this weekend was to finish strong,” said DeJoria, a six-time Funny Car winner. “It’s a long off-season, and longer than normal this year, and we wanted to have something to be proud of and we did that. We went to the semifinals here at Pomona and had some great runs this weekend in a very strong field. We had a career-best run at 3.862 during qualifying, and on race day, we had a great performance package.

“We leave here with our heads high. We have a great setup for next year. This was the first race of 2023 for us. I want to thank all my sponsors who allow us to do this. Toyota, Mobil 1, ROKiT Phones, Bandero Premium Tequila, Boninfante Friction. I want to thank my entire team. Del (Worsham) and Nicky (Boninfante); they’re such badasses, and I’m so lucky and fortunate to be able to do this for a career and race with my friends. My crew is awesome and I really love these guys.”

DeJoria and the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team will begin their 2023 campaign at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., March 10-12.

Qualified: No. 6 (3.862 E.T. at 333.00)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 4.014 E.T. at 266.32 MPH defeated Jim Campbell 4.272 E.T. at 235.84 MPH
E2: 3.914 E.T. at 326.56 MPH defeated Steven Densham 4.065 E.T. at 298.47 MPH
E3: 3.880 E.T. at 330.15 MPH defeated by Cruz Pedregon 3.864 E.T. at 331.77 MPH

NHRA Camping World Series Funny Car Point Standings (unofficial):

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