De Joria looking forward to competition debut

POMONA, Calif. - NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car rookie Alexis De Joria will be making her competition debut in the Tequila Patrón/Jack O'Bannon Racing Camaro during this weekend's season-opening CARQUEST Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. De Joria, who won last year's Pacific SPORTSnationals in Super Comp, has high hopes for her debut, but is taking a 'one step at a time' approach to this weekend.

De Joria, 29, who is the daughter of Patrón Spirits Company and Paul Mitchell Hair Care Products founder John Paul De Joria, recently completed her license in her Randy Anderson tuned ride while testing in Phoenix. While she would love nothing more than to make a spectacular debut, she has her sights focused on making a clean point A to B run off the trailer.

"I'm real excited about finally getting to stage with someone in the other lane," said De Joria, of nearby Venice, Calif. "My teammate Sean [O'Bannon] and Randy have been going over the procedures with me. It's not really that major of a deal, I just have to get back that tunnel vision I had in my Super Comp car. You just have to focus on doing your job."

"We made some more full runs testing in Phoenix last weekend," De Joria continued. "The car had some very good early numbers in one of the passes, but they were running street cars down the track, so it was difficult to get down. I definitely got some tireshake experience. I'm very competitive, and I race to win, but I also realize these are some of the toughest cars to drive in drag racing. Pomona usually has a very competitive field, and I hope to qualify, then go from there. At this point, I just need to focus on making clean, full runs. Hopefully we can make some good runs and make a good debut for Tequila Patrón."

Qualifying for the Top Alcohol cars begins on Thursday with two more sessions on Friday. Eliminations begin on Saturday with round one and conclude on Sunday.

Fast Facts:

The last woman to win a national event in Top Alcohol Funny Car was Bunny Burkett in 1986.

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 Cask23, Pyrat XO Reserve. Each brand is the finest in their category. The newest, Gran Patrón Platinum, is an extraordinary triple distilled pure tequila. Patrón 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. Find out more at _www.PatronSpirits.com_ (The Patrón Spirits Company)