After laying down the quickest elapsed time of the opening round of Funny Car eliminations at the NHRA Norwalk Nationals on Sunday, Alexis DeJoria was ready to race to her second consecutive final round following her successful Bristol, Tennessee, outing. Unfortunately, DeJoria’s Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra left the starting line just .003 seconds too soon in the quarterfinals to end her day at Summit Motorsports Park.
DeJoria’s best performance of the weekend came in the first qualifying session on Friday. She recorded a 3.901-second E.T. at 331.20 MPH, the second-quickest pass of the session, to earn two bonus points. She made another solid pass in the second session on Saturday, but it was that 3.901 that gave DeJoria the No. 4 spot for Sunday’s elimination rounds.
Thanks to DC Motorsports crew chief Del Worsham, DeJoria’s sub-4-second performances continued into race day. In the second pair of Funny Cars, DeJoria fired off a 3.923 E.T. at 330.23 MPH to defeat Paul Lee, setting low E.T. of the round in the process. In the second round, she turned on the red light by just .003 seconds to Blake Alexander, the eventual Norwalk Funny Car event champion.
“Del and Nicky (Boninfante) and the guys give me such a good car,” DeJoria said. “We have the car to beat right now. It is very consistent. Whether it is hot and sunny or cool and cloudy, we have got a great set-up. You get pressured sometimes as a driver. You want to do your best for everybody, for yourself, and for your team and you want to go rounds. We’re right on the cusp of a win, and I want to deliver that for my team so badly. I got a little over center, and I think I wanted it a little too much and obviously, ended up with a red light today.
“We have two weeks off and I’m going to take this time to get back on my simulator,” she continued. “I haven’t been home in a while, so I’m going to get back there, get on my simulator, and just practice every day until that red light is erased from my memory. I’m looking forward to a fresh start on the Western Swing.”
DeJoria will go into the first race of the Western Swing, the NHRA Mile-High Nationals, July 14-16, at Bandimere Speedway, occupying the No. 5 position in the Funny Car rankings.
This story was originally published on June 25, 2023. 
