DENVER -- NHRA Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria visited with media in Denver on Wednesday during a day-long tour to promote the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, July 20-22.
DeJoria, driver of the Tequila Patron Toyota Camry, visited with several Denver TV affiliates during a morning tour at Paul Mitchell The School, Denver campus, in Lakewood. She was interviewed by each station as she checked out the school, met with students and instructors and signed autographs.
"It was great to see another one of our Paul Mitchell family schools," DeJoria said. "Everyone was so nice and friendly, and I even got my hair done while I was there! I had the opportunity to tour the school, which was fun, and prior to the tour, the CBS, NBC, and ABC affiliates came by for interviews."
She also visited with several local media outlets for one-on-one interviews during a lunch stop at the Elephant Bar in Lakewood.
In the afternoon, she toured Tipsy's Liquor World in Littleton, which is located only a few miles away from scenic Bandimere Speedway. Tipsy’s Liquor World has become Colorado’s premier destination Wine and Spirits retailer. Tipsy’s features a unique experience with a huge sales floor of 87,000 square feet, showcasing a massive selection of wine and spirits, including plenty of Tequila Patron, sponsor of DeJoria's Funny Car.
"When we pulled up to Tipsy’s I was shocked," DeJoria said. "I’ve never seen a liquor store that big before, and as it turns out, it’s the biggest liquor store in the world!! It was by far, the best liquor store I’ve ever been to. Scott Thomas, the General Manager was fantastic. He was so knowledgeable and gave us a full tour of the store. They host parties, events, have cool bikes, a putting green, a restaurant, the largest craft selection of beers I’ve ever seen… the list goes on and on. And of course, they had a great stock of Patrón! Scott was telling us that they always do a big Patrón display once a year. Last year, they made the signature ‘Patrón bee’ out of Patrón boxes, which sounded really cool. I would love to go back there and do an event with my car next year!"
DeJoria, who is 12th in the Funny Car points standings with one runner-up finish and a semifinal finish in her last three starts, is excited about getting to Bandimere Speedway next week to keep her momentum going as she tries to qualify for the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. She is one of several rookie drivers competing for the prestigious Auto Club Road to the Future Award, presented at the season-ending awards banquet.
"We had a great day," DeJoria said. "Jeff Sipes and Bri Bandimere from Bandimere Speedway were great hosts and really made sure we had fun while getting a lot accomplished. I’ve never raced at Bandimere before - not even in my Alcohol car, but the track looks very cool. I like how it sits at the bottom of a mountain. I’ve been coming to Colorado twice a year for many, many years with my family to snowboard. It will be nice to finally come back out and race here- I’m very much looking forward to next week!”
