SONOMA, Calif. — After a strong showing in Seattle, Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria is ready for the 37th annual Denso Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge at scenic Sonoma Raceway.
DeJoria, driver of the 12,000-horsepower Bandero Café Funny Car, advanced to the semifinals last weekend at the Muckleshoot Casino Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle.
She won the opening round of competition with a holeshot victory over Gainesville winner Chad Green and then defeated former champion and Epping winner J.R. Todd in the quarterfinals with another holeshot win, before falling to eventual winner and four-time world champion Matt Hagan.
After three consecutive first round exits, the team’s performance in Seattle marked a much-needed step in the right direction heading to Sonoma.
“Our Bandero Café Funny Car team is coming off a good showing in Seattle, and I’m excited to get right back out there this weekend in Sonoma,” said DeJoria. “It’s a great facility, good air, cool conditions, good track surface, and the fans are great. Just all around really enjoy racing there.”
Last season, Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all won in Sonoma, while Shawn Langdon, Austin Prock and Troy Coughlin Jr. won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge.
It is the 12th of 20 races during the 2025 season, meaning only three races remain before the start of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
With her semifinal finish in Seattle, DeJoria will be entered into the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge where she will rematch with Hagan. The other pairing will be Seattle runner-up and former champion Ron Capps taking on Rookie of the Year candidate Spencer Hyde.
“We’d of course like continue our progression and success with going rounds and hopefully, acquire our very first Wally together as a team,” said DeJoria, who jumped to eighth in points after a successful weekend in Seattle.
