Alexis DeJoria: Blazing her own trail

(Photo courtesy of Gary Nastase)

As the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle series began it's 61st season of competition, no one was more excited than that of Funny Car rookie Alexis DeJoria. She pilots the Tequila Patron toyota camry funny car out of the @TeamKalitta stables who have recently began flexing their muscles as Alexis made the quickest pass by a female funny car driver of 4.04 at Englishtown and also making her first ever final round appearance at the most recent round on the nhra circuit, The Ford Thunder Valley Nationals.  As the circuit makes its way into Route 66 Dragway for the 15th Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals presented by Super Start batteries, I was able to interview Alexis over the telephone. I asked her when was the first time she got a taste of what drag racing was like and when she made up mind it was the career path she wanted to take:

  

"First time I saw the nitro cars go down the track was at Pomona California at the Winternationals  Said Alexis " I was about 16 years old & with a buddy of mine who I raced around with a little bit and she knew hot rods. She took me to my 1st ever NHRA event, and I just fell in love". DeJoria then added "I saw cars going 300 mph & got the full effect. You know with the sound, the feeling, the smell, and I knew right then and there it was something I wanted to do"


Being the daughter of one of the most successful business men in the world in John Paul DeJoria (who owns her sponsor Tequila Patron and Paul Mitchell hair products) it seemed would be an advantage, but Alexis had passion and a drive to pursue her dream which is much the way her father pursued his

"Definitely something (Funny Car Racing) I did on my own. Everyone in my family is involved in the business with either Patron or Paul Mitchell" DeJoria told me "And I did get involved right out of high school for 4 years. I worked my way up, worked on the phones at first, and then I moved to the art & marketing department for a year, then to R&D. I really wanted to get an idea of all parts of the company, and I really got a good feeling of what the company was all about. Best on the job training you could get"

But the fire to drive funny cars still was within Alexis:

"And you know at that point, after the 4 years; it was still something that was eating me up inside that I wanted to go do and it was a passion of mine being somewhat of the wild child. Kinda the daredevil." The funny car rookie said "I went to my dad and told him I believe in the family, I believe in the company but this is something that I need to go and pursue. I'm gonna go try it out." She continued " He said I totally agree you need to find something that you're passionate about and racing was. And you have to have the drive to do it. Just because you have money doesn't make you win races, you definitely had to have the right people to do it"

With DeJoria and Courtney Force being the only female funny car drivers at this point, Alexis in particular is very excited hoping the 2 of them help bring more and more female drivers in to the sport of drag racing:

I think it would be great,  I would hope more come in, Melanie Troxel is coming back I'm pretty sure. Ive heard rumors that even Shirley Muldowney might also be coming back in a dragster" The Patron driver stated "You know Leah Pruett is still searching for a ride in nitro, we'll see, but of course i'd love that. If I can be a role model for these young girls growing up I'd just love to do that. In today's society we're focused on image, you need to have a more empowering option & you need to show that you're capable of anything"

When the announcement was made that the driver from Venice California would go full time racing in 2012, speculation was rampant as to who would be her crew chief. Del Worsham, the 2011 NHRA top fuel champion retired from driving and in a stroke of genius was hired as head tuner for the rookie  driver, and she couldn't have been more excited

"Del & Chuck are still well respected. When he won the championship,  everyone at the banquet stood up when he went to accept the championship trophy. Alexis excitedly said " He's been my mentor from the beginning in nitro funny car. It was a dream come true when he said he wanted to do it. I was like Oh Wow, thank you so much. I couldn't have imagined a better crew chief and teacher. Very down to earth"

New Crew Chief Del Worsham & Bob Frey (Photo: Jay Selig)

With the hiring of Del to the Tequila Patron team, and with funny car  team mate Jeff Arend, Alexis feels momentum is on their side.

 "We've got great momentum. everybody is gelling. Both Fc's are on the same page, trying to tune em' the same way so we learn off of each other" As Alexis told me " At the end of the day we're a team and you need that to compete against the Force team and the Schumacher team who have 4x the info, so you really have to work at it"

Every driver in drag racing has a ritual before stepping in the car. Drivers love to pack their parachutes a certain way, they like to work on the car while in the pits, or place their uniform on a certain way or wear a lucky pair of boots or socks. They feel it gives them and the team good luck. All of these things fit DeJoria to a tee:

"I always put put the right boot & left glove on first. Lean over the injector & say a prayer to put out good vibes to the team & everybody out there. I tap the injector a couple of times before a run to put it out there for everyone to be safe. 

But don't be fooled, she loves getting her hands dirty

"It's hard not to get your hands dirty when your near a nitro car, you're gonna get dirty. I've always packed my parachutes all the way back to my alcohol funny car days. I wanted to and always will do it. I fill my fresh air bottle, and I feel more connected to the car that way"

(Photo courtesy of Stand21 & Alexis DeJoria)

Most drivers in the funny car class or any class for that matter, have really unique helmet designs. Showing off a certain sponsor or a lucky charm or picture of someone special makes it stand out, which  is how Alexis wanted hers:

"The guy who painted our race cars paints our helmets too. The picture that is on the back of helmet is also on the top of my roof hatch when I open it up.

Alexis DeJoria on a burnout at the Winternationals (Photo: Jay Selig)

With her final round appearance in Bristol along with Del tuning her to the quickest run by a female in funny car history, the only way for the Tequila Patron team and Alexis is to climb higher, winning that 1st NHRA Wally trophy and competing for Rookie Of The Year. DeJorias fans feel the team has the momentum to contend for both. She ended the interview by saying this about her fans and what they can expect for 2012:

"Momentum, getting more time under my belt, more runs. Going more rounds, getting better information and faster and just more consistency"

I would dearly like to thank Alexis DeJoria and her super awesome PR team especially pr manager Allison McCormick for putting the interview together. This was an absolute joy to do, thanks to everyone again.

Love, Peace and lots of Nitro Dreams!