Alexis DeJoria: Exceptionally Talented Professional Drag Car Racer Reveals her Success mantra "Have a passion and love for what you do and never give up"   

Alexis DeJoria is an exceptionally talented professional drag car racer. She is in conversation with Namita Nayyar President Women Fitness.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: You grew up in Venice Beach, California. Your love of racing cars must have begun at a young age. You started your NHRA career in 2005, initially competing in the Super Gas category before moving into a rear engine Super Comp dragster. Eight months later, you went on to win the Sportsman Nationals in Fontana, California, this win was a catalyst. Later, you made history when you became the first woman to break the 3-second barrier in a nitro Funny Car when you ran a 3.997-second ET in Pomona, California and then reset your own record with a 3.946-second run. Tell us about your journey to success?

Ms. Alexis DeJoria: There were a lot of ups and downs trying to learn the ropes and get the hang of the sport. I didn't have any history in Drag Racing and nobody in my family raced in NHRA Drag Racing so for me, it was really all about learning everything from the ground up.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: In 2009 you built your own race team, Stealth Motorsports. At the 2011 NHRA Northwest Nationals, you won your first ever NHRA national event in the TAFC class, becoming the second woman ever to do so. Tell us more about this professional accomplishment?

Ms. Alexis DeJoria: It was extremely gratifying to know that with the help of Nick Bastiao and my entire team, we were able to do a phenomenal job. I had Bob Newberry tuning the car at the time and we were doing big things. It was incredibly satisfying to know that all that hard work was paying off. To be the second female to win a national event in Top Alcohol Funny Car will go down in history.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: You have selected a sport that requires a lot of cohesiveness and absolute understanding between your team of mechanics, your machine, and you the driver to finally succeed. How do you achieve that?

Ms. Alexis DeJoria: Being on the road 24 weekends out of the year can be very trying on everybody's emotions. It's just being able to get everybody together and be on the same page throughout the race weekend. You have to put your anger, your frustrations- whatever else you have going on- you have to put it aside and just focus on doing your job and doing it well. We have a really good team right now and I think that we're all doing that very well.
 

Ms. Namita Nayyar: What exercises comprise your fitness regime or workout routine?

Ms. Alexis DeJoria: In addition to cardio, I do a lot of upper body strength training. When our 10,000-horsepower nitro burning race cars go down the track and drop a cylinder, you have all of that force shoving you over to one side of the track and you really have to manhandle these cars. It's very important that I build my upper body strength to be able to combat that when the time is necessary.

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