Alexis De Joria Medford wrap up

De Joria qualifies strong in Medford
Loses close decision in first round

MEDFORD, Ore. - NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car rookie Alexis De Joria had the best outing of her young career behind the wheel of the Tequila Patrón/Jack O'Bannon Racing Dodge Charger during this past weekend's Division 6 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Champion Raceway in Medford, Ore. De Joria qualified for her first event in the No. 3 position before losing a close match in round one.

De Joria, 29, of Venice, Calif., qualified the Randy Anderson tuned machine third in the field with a 5.964 second elapsed time at 243.59 mph. That time put her on the provisional pole after Friday's first qualifying session, but was bumped back to third following the second attempt. In round one, she squared off with former Division 6 Champion Randy Parker. Parker gained enough of a jump off the line that his 6.064 at 240.17 mph was enough to hold off De Joria's quicker-but-later 5.974 at 241.20.

Despite not going deeper into eliminations, De Joria was pleased with the progress the team made over the weekend.

"This weekend was a big confidence builder," said De Joria. "We got the car down the track more times than not. We ran good numbers for that track. It was very exciting being the No. 1 qualifier after the first session. We were the only one in the five's then. We shook the tires on the second session and a couple of cars ran better than us, so that put us back to third, but it was the first time we qualified for a race this year, so it was a big step in the right direction."

"We had the second quickest time of the first round, but I got beat on a holeshot," De Joria continued. "I still need to work on my reaction times. I'll just have to keep working on that. After so many times of not making it down the track, you start to anticipate a bad run. Now that I'm doing better getting the car off the line, I can focus on the other things I need to be doing instead of worrying about another bad run."

De Joria and the Tequila Patrón/Jack O'Bannon Racing team won't have long to wait as they will head straight to Woodburn, Ore., for this weekend's Division 6 event there.

"I can't wait to get back into the car," stated De Joria. "I want to be able to make more runs like that. We've been testing on Thursdays, and that really seemed to help this past weekend. Hopefully the testing we'll do on Thursday in Woodburn will help us have another good weekend."

About The Patrón Spirits Company:
Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, the company's eight distinctive products now share the Patrón label; Gran Patrón Platinum, Patrón Añejo, Patrón Reposado, Patrón Silver, Patrón XO Café, Patrón Citrónge, Pyrat Cask 23, Pyrat XO Reserve. Each brand is the finest in their category. The newest, Gran Patrón Platinum, is an extraordinary triple distilled pure tequila. sPatrón Tequila is today, the world’s number one ultra premium tequila. In 2004 & 2005, Patrón Tequila was recognized with the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences Five Star Diamond Award. Patrón is the first spirits brand ever to receive this prestigious honor. Patrón Tequila continues to set new sales records every year.

To find out more about the team, visit the team's new 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.HoosierRacingTire.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