Alexis De Joria Houston wrap up

De Joria makes solid progress in Houston outing

BAYTOWN, Texas - NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Alexis De Joria had one of the her better outings in her short Funny Car career at this past weekend's O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. Despite going out in round one, the second year driver made a progression of solid runs, nearly improving her career best elapsed time and speed in the Tequila Patrón/Jack O'Bannon Racing Dodge Charger.

De Joria, 30, the daughter of Paul Mitchell Hair Care Products and Patrón Spirits Company founder John Paul De Joria, qualified the Bob DeVour tuned machine 15th in the field with a 5.783 second elapsed time at 252.57 mph, nearly matching her career best of 5.73/252.71 mph. In round one, she took the starting line jump on No. 2 qualifier Steve Harker, but went into instant tire smoke, handing Harker the easy win.

"I'm really pleased with the progress we made this weekend," said De Joria. "I was really hoping to get back into the 5.70's this weekend, and we did, so that was a big accomplishment. To do it with my dad on hand this weekend made it even better. I have all the faith in the world that Bob and this crew will keep giving me a great race car and hopefully we'll keep it up in Vegas."

The next event for the Tequila Patrón/Jack O'Bannon Racing team will be the SummitRacing.com Nationals at "The Strip" at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Apr. 11-13.

Simply Perfect in every way, Patrón is the world’s No. 1 selling ultra-premium tequila. From the finest, most expensive Weaber Blue agave plants grown in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico, to the centuries-old distillation process, to the signed, handcrafted glass bottles, Patrón is produced with unparalleled attention to detail. Imported and marketed by Las Vegas-based The Patrón Spirits Company, brands in the portfolio consist of Patrón Gran Platinum, Patrón Anejo, Patrón Reposado, Patrón Silver, Patrón XO Café (tequila and coffee blend), and Patrón Citrónge (extra fine orange liqueur), Ultimat Vodka (80 proof, Black Cherry and Chocolate Vanilla), as well as Pyrat Pistol, Pyrat Cask, and Pyrat XO Reserve Caribbean rums.

To find out more about the Jack O'Bannon Racing Team, visit their website at www.JackOBannonRacing.com

To find out more about Jack O'Bannon Racing's quality partners, visit these websites:

www.PatronSpirits.com - Find out more about the world's number one tequila - Tequila Patrón.

www.ForestRiverInc.com - Find out more about America's largest producer of towable RV's and Cargo Trailers

www.HoosierTire.com - "Tires Designed for Champions"

www.LE-Inc.com - Lubrication Engineers - "Leaders in Lubrication"

Contact: Will Hanna/ Pro Race Communications
Email: Will.Hanna@InsideTopAlcohol.com