EPPING, N.H. (June 5, 2026) – Alexis DeJoria made the best of Friday night qualifying at her adopted home track by snapping up the provisional No. 1 spot after the first day of qualifying for the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.
The veteran driver, whose family on her mother side hails from Rhode Island, streaked down the drag strip in her John Force Racing Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car with a run of 3.929 seconds at 312.42 mph.
In doing so, DeJoria claimed New England Dragway’s second annual “No. 1 Clawifier Award” in the Funny Car class, which included a large lobster for her and lobster dinners for each of her crew members for being the No. 1 qualifying after Q2 Friday night.
Her John Force Racing Funny Car teammates held the No. 1 spot after their Q2 runs. Jack Beckman and the PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car started things off, establishing low elapsed time with a run of 3.950 seconds at 323.81 mph. Jordan Vandergriff then assumed the mantle with his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car resetting low elapsed time of the session at 3.932 seconds at 326.32 mph. Vandergriff ended up second and Beckman fourth.
Josh Hart qualified the John Force Racing Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster in the No. 3 spot with a solid run of 3.724 seconds at 337.92 mph.
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series qualifying on Sat., June 6, has been moved up one hour and will feature the final two rounds at 11:30 and 2 p.m. ET. Final eliminations are scheduled for Sunday, June 7, at 11 a.m. ET.
Quote from Alexis DeJoria, Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“Right now, we’re No. 1 and that’s all that matters. I got to sit in the lobster chair tonight, and we’re sitting No. 1. Our Bandero Chevy team really needed that. We’ve come so close to so many things and just missed them. Tonight, everything paid off. We’ve worked really hard to build a consistent race car and now we’re starting to take that next step. We’re one, two and four. That’s a pretty good night for John Force Racing.”
“After Englishtown went away, this became the hometown track for me and my family in Rhode Island. This is where they come to see me race. I’ve got my mom’s family out here: my mom, my sister, and my aunts and uncles and cousins and friends that I grew up with.”
“The Funny Car class is very competitive. Any one of these cars can beat you on any given Sunday. My guys have done such a great job, and they finally got a handle on the car, so now they’re just stepping it up and making it quicker and it showed right there. It was a little bit of a beast at the top end, trying to take me inside. I held on for as long as I possibly could before I clicked it off early.”
Quote from Jordan Vandergriff, Cornwell Tools Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“I sat in the claw chair for a little bit, held the lobster, but was bumped by my teammate (DeJoria). But, you know, who else would you want to get bumped by? It was a really strong qualifying effort in Q2 by all of John Force Racing. I think we’re 1-2-3-4. I’m really happy for Alexis and really happy for my Cornwell Quality Tools team.”
Quote from Josh Hart, Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster:
“’I’m pretty happy with that. It’s like working with Babe Ruth. I mean, John Collins and Dave Grubnic (crew chiefs) called their shot in Q1. They called it again in Q2. We’re just happy we got our Speedmaster hot rod back. I mean, what do I have to complain about? I drive for John Force Racing. So, I’m ecstatic. And tomorrow we’ll be even more ecstatic because we’ll develop some more consistency, and we’ll be ready to test a few things. I see 60s if the clouds come in but the wet weather holds off.”
Quote from Jack Beckman, PEAK Chevrolet SS Funny Car:
“If you’d have told me this morning that we were going to be a top four qualifier, I would have said ‘We think we can do better than that but that would be a good day.’ So, it was a good day. We smoked the tires in Q1 so we had to be the very first car out for the second session. We really thought a mid 3.90-second run was about what we were gonna push for. That’s exactly what we got … 3.95, 0. So, I’m happy that the PEAK Chevy did what the crew chiefs asked it to do. Would I have liked to have been a few pairs further back and seen other cars run to know we could have pushed a little harder? Sure, but I’m not going to woulda, coulda, shoulda. We’re number four. Our teammates are number one and number two.”
TV Schedule
Television coverage includes a qualifying show Sat., June 6, from 10 – 11 p.m. ET on FS1 and the eliminations broadcast Sunday, June 7, from 3 – 6 p.m. ET on FOX.
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