Alexis DeJoria took her Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car on a winning 3.914-second at 324.51-mph ride during the final round of qualifying at the NHRA Arizona Nationals on Saturday to win the inaugural Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge.
DeJoria qualified for the first #2Fast2Tasty Challenge by advancing to the semifinal round at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. two weeks prior, and faced Matt Hagan as her first #2Fast2Tasty challenger on Saturday. DeJoria used a 3.980 E.T. to avenge her semifinal Gatornationals loss to Hagan and move on to the second and final round of the Mission Foods-backed specialty race. Aboard her Bandero Supra, DeJoria lined up against her Toyota Racing teammate J.R. Todd where she clocked the impressive 3.914-second blast to lead to the #2Fast2Tasty win and propel her up to the No. 2 position on the Funny Car qualifying ladder.
“It feels really good to give that $10,000 check to my team, and know that when we start the Countdown later in the year, we’ll have the added bonus of three championship points included in our tally,” said DeJoria.
“I won my first Funny Car race here in 2014, so to be the first #2Fast2Tasty winner is really incredible and it’s just one more good memory I have from this track,” she added. “Huge respect for both opponents I raced today. Both are championship winners and very good drivers.”
In addition to earning bragging rights for becoming the first Mission #2Fast2Tasty winners, DeJoria and her Del Worsham-led DC Motorsports team have the unique advantage of being one of the few teams to have made two clean passes down the track during qualifying and look forward to carrying that momentum into Sunday’s elimination rounds.
“The track has been a little tricky this weekend for most of the teams so just to make it down the track was a big deal,” said DeJoria, a six-time Funny Car event champion. “And not only did we make two good runs, but we were low E.T. of Q2 and ran second-low of Q3. It’s a pretty big deal to come off of this win today during qualifying and go into eliminations tomorrow. It’s definitely a morale boost for the team and myself, and I think we’ll do really well on race day.”
Starting from the No. 2 seed, DeJoria will be looking to replicate Saturday’s success and attempt a double-up at the final running of the Arizona Nationals. DeJoria drew Todd as her first-round challenger and will be battling to go two-for-two against her opponent as she makes a run for her second Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park Wally trophy.
“We’ll see what happens tomorrow, but tonight, we’re going home with the win. I can’t wait to celebrate with my team, and lucky for us, Bandero Tequila just so happens to go very well with Mission Tortilla chips and some salsa.”
Qualifying Results:
Q1: 7.014 E.T. at 103.36 MPH
Q2: 3.980 E.T. at 308.92 MPH (Three bonus points for quickest run of the session)
Q3: 3.914 E.T. at 324.51 MPH (Two bonus points for second-quickest run of the session)
Total Arizona Nationals Bonus Points: Five
Total Mission #2Fast2Tasty Championship Bonus Points: Three
Qualified: No. 2 (lane choice) vs. No. 15 J.R. Todd
ABM Communications PR
