Alexis DeJoria’s Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry took a calculated risk to test at Bandimere Speedway immediately following her semifinal performance at the NHRA Norwalk Nationals. The extra effort paid off today for the five-time Funny Car national event winner as DeJoria raced to her first final round of the season and ninth of her career at the NHRA Mile-High Nationals outside of Denver.
The team had an excellent qualifying effort heading into race day as the No. 2 qualified Funny Car and made the most of race day turning on three win lights against Jack Wyatt, Funny Car point leader Bob Tasca III and veteran Tim Wilkerson. In a tough final round match-up with Matt Hagan, the No. 1 qualifier, DeJoria was not able to get the win but will leave the start of the historic Western Swing with momentum and confidence as the tour heads to Sonoma, California, next weekend.
“This is definitely the best race weekend I have ever had at Bandimere Speedway,” said DeJoria. “We qualified No. 2. We had a pretty consistent car during eliminations and we made it to my team’s first final round since I came back into the sport last year. We are just so hungry. We have had so many semifinals leading up to this. We have had great success in qualifying. We were just missing those final rounds. Now that we have tasted it we are going to have more of these. It is just a matter of time and I know I keep saying that but it is true.”
In the final round DeJoria’s race car was down on power during the run but the veteran driver kept her opponent within striking distance.
“In the final round we dropped cylinders right at the start,” said DeJoria. “My car was down on power. I saw Hagan move ahead and I was on his tail the whole way down. If he slipped up at all we had him. It is just one of those things. We are going to go to Sonoma with our heads held high.”
Over the past five races DeJoria’s Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry has been one of the most consistent race cars in qualifying and has reached at least the semifinals in three of those five races. After coming back to racing in 2020 this is the kind of performance DeJoria and crew chief Del Worsham knew was attainable even under some of the toughest conditions on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series tour.
“I am just really proud of my team. Racing up here is tough and I love this track. I make a point to hike the Red Rocks trails on Friday and Saturday morning. I have always wanted to win here and hopefully next year we will get it,” said DeJoria.
The Bandero Premium Tequila ROKiT Toyota Camry will be back on track next weekend for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals in Sonoma, California. The team is sitting solidly in seventh place in the Camping World Funny Car point standings and is just outside the top five.
Qualifying Results
Q1: 3.982 sec, 323.50 mph; Qual. 2
Q2: 4.605 sec, 210.14 mph; Qual. 2
Q3: 7.777 sec, 63.06 mph; Qual. 2
Bonus Points: +2 (2nd quickest in Q1)
Race Results
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 2 .107 4.042 317.27 (W)
Jack Wyatt 13 .089 4.363 240.12
First Round
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 2 .086 4.070 309.91 (W)
Bob Tasca III 8 .086 4.418 211.63
Semifinals
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 2 .073 4.034 313.22 (W)
Tim Wilkerson 3 .108 8.009 118.91
Finals
Driver Qual R/T ET MPH
Alexis DeJoria 2 .089 4.227 297.68
Matt Hagan 1 .046 4.105 305.70 (W)
Camping World Funny Car Top Ten
1. Bob Tasca III, 643
2. John Force, 593
3. Matt Hagan, 558
4. J.R. Todd, 532
5. Ron Capps, 529
6. Robert Hight, 517
7. Alexis DeJoria, 498
8. Tim Wilkerson, 477
9. Cruz Pedregon, 450
10. Terry Haddock, 274
Tony Fay PR
