Alexis DeJoria Reaches Funny Car Semifinals at NHRA Southern Nationals

NHRA Southern Nationals
Event 5 of 20
South Georgia Motorsports Park
Adel, Ga.
May 1 – 3, 2026

By: ABM Communications

ADEL, Ga. (May 3, 2026) – Alexis DeJoria continued her consistent start to the 2026 season Sunday at the NHRA Southern Nationals, guiding the Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car to a semifinal finish at South Georgia Motorsports Park. At the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series’ debut event at the facility, DeJoria navigated tricky track conditions to advance to the semifinals for the second time this season while holding onto sixth in the championship standings for John Force Racing.

DeJoria, who previously raced at South Georgia when she competed in Top Alcohol Funny Car, started Friday qualifying in the No. 8 spot after the first session. In the quicker second session, she improved her numbers with a 3.968-second pass at 326.63 mph. DeJoria’s machine then went up in tire smoke early on her third qualifying attempt and secured the No. 10 position on the ladder for race day.

In the first round of eliminations, DeJoria was the first of just two drivers to win out of the tricky left lane. She left the starting line a tick ahead of past world champion Cruz Pedregon and charged to a weekend-best 3.946 E.T. at 325.61 mph to get the win and gain lane choice for the next round. Lined up against four-time world champion Matt Hagan in the second round, DeJoria wheeled the Bandero Café Funny Car to a winning 4.016-second pass at 314.68 mph. That sent DeJoria to the semifinals for the second time this season. She went into the match against J.R. Todd with an 11 – 8 record over her former teammate. The two drivers went up in smoke, leading to a wild pedalfest that saw DeJoria’s car cross the centerline. She used her veteran driving skills to wrangle it in and safely guide it back into her lane while Todd crossed the finish line beams in 6.188 seconds to advance.

“Another long Sunday of going rounds,” DeJoria said. “I’ve had a lot of not-so-great runs to know what to do and what not to do, but sometimes these cars have a mind of their own and you’ve got to somewhat finesse them. You’ve got to have patience, but you also have to be on top of the car. The left lane has been tough all weekend. In the semifinals, the car smoked the tires right at the hit. Those types of runs are really hard to recover from, but it’s eliminations. I tried to let the car settle down, got back on it, and, then it broke loose again. I lifted, got back on it again, and then it started to go sideways, so I lifted. At that point, the car was ready to go into a tank-slapper and it just flung me over the centerline. Obviously, I was out of the throttle, knowing that I’m going in that direction. The car hit two cones, but I got it back to my lane. The body’s good, so we’re leaving here in one piece. We gained some good points and we have good rhythm leaving here.”

DeJoria was quick to praise teammate Jordan Vandergriff, who earned a meaningful win for John Force Racing following the recent passing of John Force’s oldest daughter, Adria.

“I’m so happy for Jordan getting his first win in Funny Car,” DeJoria said. “Really proud of him for bringing home a win this weekend for John and the whole Force family in memory of Adria.”

DeJoria and the John Force Racing Bandero Café Funny Car team will move on to the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK, May 15-17, at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., near Chicago.

Qualified: No. 10 (3.968 E.T. at 326.63 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:
E1: 3.946 E.T. at 325.61 MPH defeated Cruz Pedregon 4.135 E.T. at 237.80 MPH
E2: 4.016 E.T. at 314.68 MPH defeated Matt Hagan 10.211 E.T. at 83.83 MPH
E3: No Time (centerline) defeated by J.R. Todd 6.188 E.T. at 245.67 MPH

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

1	J.R. Todd	411
2	Ron Capps	409
3	Matt Hagan	386
4	Jordan Vandergriff	383
5	Chad Green	340
6	Alexis DeJoria	297
7	Spencer Hyde	275
8	Jack Beckman	245
9	Dan Wilkerson	202
10	Dave Richards	171