GAINESVILLE, Fla. — To say the odds were stacked against JCM Racing and Alexis DeJoria entering this year’s NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season was an understatement.
For starters, the team was fully assembled in January. As well, it is JCM’s first foray into the Funny Car category.
DeJoria opened the year with one car body (a Dodge Hellcat, which she has never competed with) and one chassis (a John Force Racing chassis, also a first for the longtime Funny Car driver).
At one point, there was speculation as to whether DeJoria and the team would be able to contest the full 20-race schedule.
Heck, even the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway was up in the air at one point.
However, the team made the trek to Gainesville and loaded off the trailer with speed. After qualifying seventh, the team’s first goal, qualifying in the front half of the field, was complete.
Next came eliminations, where constant rainfall and an unstable track surface gave many drivers issues during the first round. DeJoria made it past Terry Haddock in the first round, but that’s where this story takes off.
DeJoria’s 3.921 ET in round one turned out to be low ET of the day in Funny Car. Then at the tail end of her pass, an explosion under the hood forced the burst panel to fly on her car.
Work had just begun on the day for not only DeJoria and her team, but also teammate Ida Zetterström’s group. Zetterström, who competes with JCM in Top Fuel, was eliminated in the first round, meaning it was an all-hands- on-deck approach as they worked tirelessly to get DeJoria’s Bandero Café Dodge to the starting line in time for the next round.
“Luckily, they were able to fix the body. We had tape on the burst panels,” DeJoria explained.
“It was taped up, but it worked. It mattered. Everybody came together. Ida’s team unfortunately went out first round. Being on a multi-car team is so beneficial, because when one car does go down, you have all that extra help.”
Some of the extra help even included DeJoria’s father, successful businessman John Paul DeJoria.
“My dad was helping her (Zetterström) refuel the car and he’s never done that before,” Alexis DeJoria explained. “He’s never been to that race before. He had the best time ever. He was helping me pack my parachutes.
“I mean, when I say all hands on deck, all hands were on deck. Everybody made that car run and get to that next round. I got suited up and belted in the pit at one point and we were flying through the pits to get to the staging lanes, because we were literally next up.
“It was just incredible. But, we do well under pressure and that’s really what defines a good team. What separates the part timers from the competitive, full-time teams.”
Sure enough, DeJoria and JCM rode the wave of teamwork and determination past Bob Tasca III one round later. That run brought its own set of challenges.
“We had some oil, second round, we had to change a couple blocks,” DeJoria said.
Nonetheless, the seemingly invincible group again made the necessary changes and reached the staging lanes in the nick of time, even if it meant crew members running and speeding through.
Perhaps, the underdog story of the motorsports season came to an end in the semifinals as DeJoria lost to eventual runner-up Ron Capps.
Despite the defeat, the Gatornationals wasn’t remotely close to a failed first race for JCM and DeJoria. If anything, the event instilled a boat load of confidence heading into the rest of the season.
“For a team that just came together in the matter of the last two months, for a team that just barely made it to happen in the first race of the season,” DeJoria began. “For a team that only has one body, one chassis and a driver who has completely changed everything from teams to chassis to manufacturer bodies, that says a lot.
“This team is really incredible. Everything came together, not by choice, but I think the universe had different plans.
“Sometimes you think in the moment, you’re like, ‘Why? You know it should be this way or that way,’ and the universe has other plans for you, and you’re like, ‘Oh, wait, this is meant to be.'”
