Alexis DeJoria and the Patron Top
Alcohol Funny Car Team have been preparing for the upcoming 54th Annual
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Presented by Lucas Oil for two and a half months,
eager to get back into competition.
In a bittersweet second round win and career best 5.55 ET @ 260 mph run,
the Team Patron Mustang went into the sandtrap in Englishtown, NJ after a
weld broke that attached the parachutes to the car. The sandtrap
destroyed the car, however Alexis escaped injury and the Patron Team has
been on a mission to get back on the track in time to compete at the most
prestigious event in the Lucas Oil Series. "The Patron Team have been
working non-stop to get our new Mustang ready for Indy," Alexis said. "The
team implemented some new safety features into the car and we made a
couple of test runs to be sure all of the new equipment was ready to roll
into Indy and pick up where we left off as far as performance is
concerned. Team Manager Nick Bastiao, Crew Chief Bob Newberry and all of
the Patron guys did an awesome job getting the car ready and we are
excited to be going to Indy."
Alexis is also quick to point out the big picture plan of meeting the
expectations of their first year team. "We were really beginning to jell
going into Englishtown, the Patron team had seven races under our belt, we
were comfortably in the top 10 in national points and our performance was
really picking up. Our goal has always been to finish in the top 10 of the
Lucas Oil Series. Indy is the biggest race of the year and we are excited
to be able to get back on tour. I couldn't think of a better race to
return and get back on track."
Event Schedule
The Mac Tools U.S Nationals Presented by Lucas Oil begin Friday for the
top alcohol classes with two qualifying sessions at 12:00 p.m. (ET) and
3:30 p.m. continuing Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and Sunday at 9:30 a.m. with
first round of eliminations set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
