Being away from drag racing gnawed at DeJoria, yet she says she wouldn’t trade the experiences of a more in-perspective, slower pace in the Texas Hill Country.
“I did get to teach Bella how to drive. She’s an incredible driver. She loves to drive. She loves road trips. Any chance she gets, she wants to get in the car and drive,” DeJoria said. “…She’s going to be on the road with me this year. She’s incredible. She’s a straight A student, does really well in school. She’s going to do online AP classes, so she’ll be on the road with me. It’s very exciting. We put her to work on the team. She grew up out there, so she loves it. It’s a family; and Del’s kids (twins Katelyn and Madelyn) are the same age so that’ll be fun. I have this big vision of us all having this Winnebago.”
DeJoria is still dreaming and dreaming big, envisioning how she might join rivals Robert Hight and Ron Capps in flirting with the 340-mph speed barrier.
“That’s what I’m looking forward to most. I hope they don’t slow us down before I can go 340,” she said. However, DeJoria concedes that tire manufacturer Goodyear “might not think it’s cool. Like, one or two cars … all right — but if we all start going 340, they’re going to have a fricking heart attack, probably. I hope they don’t make that decision too quickly. My fastest is 333, and I definitely want to step that up.”
Occasionally, racers will talk about slowing the cars for safety’s sake — although that’s really code for: “We want to go faster and faster but want the cars to be safer and safer.”
DeJoria said, “Nobody wants the cars to go slower. If anything, we want more track, but we just can’t do that because we don’t have enough land. I’m still (hoping) for a track to be built in Austin, at COTA (Circuit of The Americas). They’ve got a lot of land there.”
DeJoria is confident she can jump back into the cutthroat mix.
“I’ve done it. I’ve won races. I won Indy, ran record numbers, had some crashes and had some blow-ups. Those are things I’ve experienced, so I’m not coming back with questions,” she said. “I’m coming back with seven years of experience That’s incredible. And I’m with guys who have a long history in the sport. Everybody on our team has been there in racing for a while. There are no newbies.”
However, DeJoria is particularly proud to introduce two new sponsors, ROKiT and ABK Beer, to the sport.
ABK Beer, brewed in Germany’s Bavaria region since 1308, gives that industry a renewed presence in drag racing. And the ROKiT Group of Companies features 3D mobile-phone technology that appears right in the wheelhouse of the marketing-targeted millennials.
“I think it’s beneficial for the sport. I think it’s very exciting,” DeJoria said. “There’s always something to contribute to the sport, whether it’s another team or new sponsors or whatever. They’ve got a lot of cars. DSR has cars, John Force has cars, Kalitta Motorsports has cars, and I think It’s exciting to bring something new to the table, as well.”
Both ROKiT and ABK Beer are affiliated with DeJoria’s father, entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria, but she doesn’t take the sponsorships for granted.
“He has partners, so they’re not outright his. His partners are James Cameron and Jonathan Kendrick. It’s not just him that made the decisions,” she explained. “He had to get the OK from everybody all around the table. So I still have to uphold my part of the bargain. You still have to step up and present yourself in a professional way. You have to show you’ve got what it takes and you earned it.”
In seeking her first victory since 2017 and her first series championship, DeJoria said, “It feels good … a lot of good vibes, just the energy. We’re all excited, super-amped. And we’re going to have a good time doing it. Why else would you do it? If you’re not having a good time, try something else. Life is way too short not to enjoy what we’re doing.”
She did try something else, but she couldn’t live without Funny Car racing.