Alexis DeJoria

Alexis DeJoria (born September 24, 1977) is an American drag racer competing in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). She is a member of Kalitta Motorsports and sponsored by Patrón Spirits Company. She drives a Toyota Camry funny car. ^[1]

Career

Alexis began her NHRA career in 2005, initially competing in the Super Gas category before moving into a rear engine Super Comp dragster. Eight months after her NHRA debut, she went on to win the Sportsman Nationals in Fontana, California.

DeJoria spent the next two years racing along the West coast in to a Top Alcohol Funny Car (TAFC).

In 2009, Alexis built her own racing team, Stealth Motorsports. At the 2011 NHRA Northwest Fall Nationals, she won her first ever NHRA national event win in TAFC, becoming the second woman ever to do so. She co-owned and operated the team for three years, leaving in 2011 to join Kalitta Motorsports as their fourth member and second Funny Car driver. This move coincided with her transition to racing a nitro powered Funny Car at the 2011 Texas Fall Nationals. ^[2]

In 2012, Alexis raced her first final-round appearance at Bristol. That year she also set both a career best for time with a run of 4.032 and speed of 319.07 at Reading.^[3]

During the 2013 season, Alexis had 4 semi-final finishes.

In 2014, Alexis became the first woman ever to make a sub-four second run, with a 3.997-second ET In Pomona, Calif. during the NHRA Winternationals. At her next race in Phoenix, Alexis won her first race in the Funny Car category. In March 2014, she picked up the second win of her professional career in Las Vegas. That May, she broke a Funny Car track record at Atlanta Dragway (4.012-second ET) while earning her the Number One qualifier position. That summer, she went on to break Brainerd International Raceway’s Funny Car ET record when she ran a 4.010-second pass and then reset her own record with a 3.998-second run, the first sub-four second Funny Car run recorded at BIR. In September she won the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. ^[4] June 7, 2015 advanced to the finals in Nitro Funny Car in the Summernationals at Englishtown NJ.

Filmography

She played the role of Paula, in the movie Snake and Mongoose released in 2013.^[5]

Personal life

In late 2012, DeJoria became engaged to American television personality and motorcycle customizer Jesse James. They married on March 24, 2013 at the estate of her father, entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria.

DeJoria has a daughter, 10-year-old Bella, from a previous relationship.^[6]

Philanthropy

Alexis, along with her mother Jamie Briggs, joined Sallie Latimer's efforts to raise money to repair the Earles Court water tower^[7]

References