Alexis DeJoria Advances to Final Quad at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

Event 5 of 20

zMAX Dragway

Concord, N.C.

April 25 – 27, 2025

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Alexis DeJoria Advances to Final Quad at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

Alexis DeJoria advanced to the final elimination quad on Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals near Charlotte, where she recorded her second semifinal finish of the season. It was DeJoria’s first time running for an NHRA Wally trophy since joining the JCM Racing team over the 2024-2025 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series off-season. DeJoria’s strong performance at zMAX Dragway moved her within striking distance of the Funny Car Top 10 and was a much-needed confidence boost for the tenured racer and her Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff/Todd Smith-led team after a frustrating outing at the most recent race in Las Vegas where they narrowly missed a chance to compete in the event’s elimination field.

Aboard the Bandero Café Funny Car, DeJoria opened her weekend in Concord, N.C. with a solid 3.963-second at 323.35 mph pass, giving her team a good baseline to work from heading into the remaining qualifying rounds. On Friday night under the zMAX Dragway lights, DeJoria recorded her best run of the weekend, crossing the finish line beams in 3.925 seconds at 324.51 mph. In Saturday’s hot conditions, DeJoria posted two more quality runs – a 3.979 and 4.001 E.T. – before settling into the No. 12 spot on the Four-Wide Nationals Funny Car elimination ladder. Her round-one race day quad featured a showdown between DeJoria, No. 4 qualifier Spencer Hyde, No. 5 qualifier Jack Beckman, and No. 13 seed Chad Green, leading NHRA to name the tough draw the Four-Wide Nationals Funny Car marquee matchup.

In the first round of eliminations on Sunday, DeJoria was strong leaving the starting line and posted a 4.012 E.T. at 297.16 mph to defeat Beckman and Hyde’s tire-smoking attempts. She was quick off the line yet again in round two, clocking a .042-second reaction time which helped her to snag the holeshot advantage over her opponents. DeJoria’s machine lost traction as it approached the top end, slowing to a 5.115 E.T., but it was enough to move the Bandero Café team into the final elimination quad as Dave Richards had problems as soon as he stood on the throttle and Green suffered a red light start. DeJoria advanced to the final alongside Matt Hagan where the two also faced Austin Prock and Ron Capps.

Racing for a chance to hoist the Wally for the first time since the 2024 Phoenix event, DeJoria lined up ready to make a run for her first zMAX Dragway triumph. The showdown featured an exciting side-by-side race with all four drivers nearly even as they hurtled down the 1,000-foot stretch. DeJoria clocked a run of 3.933 seconds at 327.98 mph but Prock and Capps’ slightly quicker E.T.s propelled them through the finish line beams first.

“The momentum just picked right back up, especially after our last race,” said DeJoria, who now has three four-wide final quad appearances between the Charlotte and Las Vegas events. “We threw it down this weekend. Made four good runs in qualifying and made it all the way to the final quad today. Ran a good number in the final there, got some good points, and it just really feels like we’re moving in the right direction. It’s still early on, but within the first five races, we’ve already got two semifinal finishes, which is pretty impressive considering we really hustled just to get everything ready in time for the start of the season and we’re only getting better. Just really proud of this JCM Bandero Café team, and I can’t wait to get back at it in Chicago.”

With her semifinal finish, DeJoria moved one spot up to 11th in the championship standings where she sits only three points out of 10th and within one round of the No. 8 ranked driver.

The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series moves onto the Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill., May 16 – 18, where DeJoria will continue her quest for her first victory of the year.

Qualified: No. 12 (3.925 E.T. at 324.51 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:

• E1: 4.012 E.T. at 297.16 MPH defeated Jack Beckman 4.934 E.T. at 178.19 MPH, Spencer Hyde 11.492 E.T. at 48.22 MPH

• E2: 5.115 E.T. at 147.20 MPH defeated Dave Richards 10.378 E.T. at 88.51 MPH, Chad Green (Foul, Red Light)

• E3: 3.933 E.T. at 327.98 MPH defeated by Austin Prock 3.870 E.T. at 332.92 MPH, Ron Capps 3.920 E.T. at 327.51 MPH

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car Point Standings (Unofficial):

1 Austin Prock 413

2 Matt Hagan 363

3 Jack Beckman 343

4 Paul Lee 334

5 Ron Capps 292

6 Chad Green 276

7 Dan Wilkerson 251

8 J.R. Todd 230

9 Cruz Pedregon 223

10 Bob Tasca III 219

11 Alexis DeJoria 216

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Ida Zetterström Sees Signs of Progress in First Four-Wide Nationals Appearance

Second-year NHRA Top Fuel driver Ida Zetterström’s first four-wide experience at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway came to an end in the opening round of eliminations Sunday afternoon. Though Zetterström didn’t get the round win, her JCM Racing Top Fuel dragster did make another consistent pass – the fourth-quickest of the round – to validate the team’s efforts between races after sitting out the most recent event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour.

Though Zetterström missed the recent Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals due to a lack of funding, she didn’t sit idle on the sidelines waiting for her next race. She appeared on FOX’s broadcast of the NASCAR Bristol race, representing both NHRA and JCM Racing while also promoting the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals coming to Bristol Dragway later this summer. The 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion also took part in last week’s Business of Women’s Sports Summit in New York City, where she spoke on a panel of female athletes and business owners.

At the Four-Wide Nationals, Zetterström went up in smoke early in the first qualifying session on Friday. She then charged to a 3.744 E.T. at 329.67 mph to move up to No. 10 in the second session. Zetterström made the third-quickest pass of the third qualifying session, a 3.747 at 329.34 mph, to earn one bonus point. She slowed to a 4.703 E.T. in the final session and maintained the No. 10 spot on the final qualifying order.

In a first-round quad against Shawn Langdon, Josh Hart, and Scott Farley, Zetterström made a strong move out of the gate and powered to a 3.753-second pass at 330.55 mph, but it wasn’t enough to get around Langdon and Hart.

“Overall, it was a good weekend,” said Zetterström, who made her zMAX Dragway debut at last year’s Charlotte fall race in her rookie season. “We lost in a really tight quad. I tried to be as shallow as possible when staging to really give the right numbers and a good performance for my team, and we ran a 3.75, but it just was not enough. But we actually had really good incremental numbers, and I felt like I did my job as a driver in that part. The four-wide thing is a little tricky, so I felt like I lost it a little bit on the starting line. That beats me up a little bit, but I do feel like the car is so close to being in the top right now.”

Zetterström was the fourth-quickest driver in Top Fuel round one, backing up her belief that the team’s performance is on the uptick. Despite being down one event compared to the full-time teams, Zetterström and her team led by crew chief Jon Schaffer have still made strides in an ultra-competitive Top Fuel field.

“All the hard work and time that we put into this program while missing Vegas really paid off because this is the best race car we've had since we started this program,” Zetterström said. “I feel very confident that we can go out there and really win rounds now because we have what it takes, and we have good equipment. This is the race car that these guys deserve. This is what we want to put out there on the track, and we're only getting started. We made some big changes coming into this race, and those changes showed us exactly what we've been looking for. Even though we don't like losing, we have a really good feeling going into our next race.”

Zetterström will sit out the next two races on the NHRA Mission Foods Series tour, returning at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, June 6-8, at Bristol Dragway.

Qualified: No. 10 (3.744 E.T. at 329.67 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:

• E1: 3.753 E.T. at 330.55 MPH defeated by Shawn Langdon 3.728 E.T. at 333.25 MPH, Josh Hart 3.755 E.T. at 332.34 MPH