A series of ultra-quick passes, including a career-best elapsed time in eliminations, carried Alexis DeJoria to a runner-up finish Sunday evening at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. She’s now ranked second in the Funny Car point standings leaving the fifth race on the 2023 NHRA Camping World Series schedule.
In Friday’s second qualifying session, DeJoria threw down a 3.876-second pass at 333.08 MPH to take the provisional No. 1 spot, earning three bonus points in the process. Another big run, a 3.892 E.T. at 334.65 MPH, followed in the third session. She ended up No. 5 on the qualifying sheet going into Sunday’s eliminations rounds.
DeJoria was in the first Funny Car quad on Sunday afternoon when the rain started and put a pause on eliminations. When racing resumed, DeJoria and crew chief Del Worsham fired off a career-best 3.854 E.T. at 332.51 MPH to finish first in the quad and set low E.T. of eliminations. A 3.883 E.T. at 333.58 MPH in the second round sent the Bandero Premium Tequila GR Supra into the final round. There, DeJoria was quickest of the quad with a 3.872 E.T., but Robert Hight got to the finish line first. DeJoria claimed a runner-up finish, beating the 3.92-second passes of fellow Toyota driver Ron Capps and John Force.
“What a great weekend, and yes, I can honestly say it was a great weekend,” said DeJoria, the runner-up at the 2022 Charlotte fall race. “No, we’re not leaving with the trophy, but that being said, we made it to the final round, we ran our team’s best E.T. ever with a 3.85 during first round today, and we gained some great points and we’re now sitting in second going into Chicago. The more final round appearances we make, it’s only a matter of time; we’re going to win one of these soon.”
Before Charlotte, DeJoria qualified No. 2 and raced to the second round at the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas. While she’s still seeking her first win of the year, she’s off to one of her best season starts ever. She also boasts the quickest average race day E.T. in the Funny Car category.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get a four-wide win over these last two races, and I’ll have to wait another year to try again for my first four-wide Wally, but I’m leaving here with my head held high,” DeJoria said. “I feel good about things, and I’m looking forward to our team continuing on with this success at the next race.”
DeJoria started the weekend ranked third in points. Her runner-up finish allowed her to move ahead of Capps and up to second in the standings.
DeJoria and the DC Motorsports Funny Car team will be back on track May 19-21 at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago.
Qualified: No. 5 (3.876 E.T. at 333.08 MPH)
Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.854 E.T. at 332.51 MPH defeated Matt Hagan 4.343 E.T. at 293.73 MPH, Dale Creasy Jr. 4.469 E.T. at 278.86 MPH
E2: 3.883 E.T. at 333.58 MPH defeated Chad Green 4.228 E.T. at 235.27 MPH, Bob Tasca 5.302 E.T. at 165.54 MPH
E3: 3.872 E.T. at 333.41 MPH defeated Ron Capps 3.923 E.T. at 331.85 MPH, John Force 3.924 E.T. at 329.26 MPH; defeated by Robert Hight 3.888 E.T. at 328.30 MPH
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car Point Standings (Unofficial):
| 1 | Matt Hagan | 433 | |
| 2 | Alexis DeJoria | 375 | |
| 3 | Robert Hight | 364 | |
| 4 | Ron Capps | 361 | |
| 5 | Chad Green | 304 | |
| 6 | Bob Tasca III | 300 | |
| 7 | Tim Wilkerson | 265 | |
| 8 | John Force | 260 | |
| 9 | Cruz Pedregon | 247 | |
| 10 | Blake Alexander | 210 |
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