It was an uncharacteristic weekend for the Bandero Premium Tequila Toyota GR Supra Funny Car team at the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals, the second stop of the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoff series of events. The Del Worsham/Nicky Boninfante-led team is well-known throughout the pits as having one of the strongest, most consistent-performing race cars in the Funny Car category. The team routinely qualifies strong, but in an unusual set of circumstances, failed to make a full pull throughout the weekend’s three qualifying sessions before the fields were set for race day.
Starting from the No. 14 seed, DeJoria lined up opposite No. 3 qualifier Bob Tasca in the first round of eliminations for what was billed as NHRA’s Funny Car marquee match-up. DeJoria, who was celebrating a birthday on Sunday, was looking to rebound on race day and cap off her day with a winner’s circle celebration but saw her hopes for a third consecutive zMAX Dragway final round appearance go up in smoke when her machine lost traction early into the run while Tasca made a clean pass for the win.
“We didn’t have a great weekend,” said DeJoria on Sunday following the first round of eliminations. “The car didn’t make it down the track one time, unfortunately. We’re a good team and we’re usually very consistent, we just had a real bad weekend. It is what it is, we’re going to pack it up and see what we can do at the next race in St. Louis.”
Alexis DeJoria and the DC Motorsports team depart zMAX Dragway ranked sixth in the NHRA Camping World Series Funny Car standings. The team won’t have to wait long to redeem their early exit, as the series heads straight to World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis for the NHRA Midwest Nationals, Sept. 29 – Oct. 1
This story was originally published on September 25, 2023. 
