NHRA Funny Car’s Alexis DeJoria Joins John Force Racing for 2026

The Hot Rodfather made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.

Alexis DeJoria, a six-time NHRA Funny Car winner and driver of the Bandero Premium Tequila Chevy Camaro, will join John Force Racing as it expands to a four-car team for the fourth time in its history. She’ll be a teammate to Top Fuel’s Josh Hart and two Funny Car drivers: 2012 Funny Car champion Jack Beckman and a driver to be announced for the Cornwell Tools Camaro Funny Car.

“This has been in the works for quite some time, actually, going as far back as the end of the 2024 season,” DeJoria said. “But the timing wasn’t right, and we weren’t able to make it happen for 2025. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to race for Joe Maynard and his JCM Racing team last year, which I am very grateful for. At that point, I had kind of put the thought of racing for JFR off in the back of my mind, thinking maybe it wasn’t necessarily feasible. But then, the opportunity presented itself once again a few months back, and it just wasn’t something I could pass up. At that point, I started to take the necessary steps to make the move for 2026.”

John Force said, “Alexis is a fierce competitor who has earned her place in the Funny Car ranks, and it’s great to have her become the newest member of our team.

“I’m obviously pretty familiar with the dynamic between father and daughter competing in NHRA drag racing so I respect and admire what Alexis and her father, John Paul, have built together over the years. John Paul is a global success story who understands the importance of both family and business partnerships, which is exactly what John Force Racing has been built on,” the 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion and 157-time winner said.

DeJoria said she knows “from experience that when switching teams and cars, there is a bit of an adjustment period, especially with getting to know all of the people and personalities involved. So, the first few weeks I plan to focus on getting myself acquainted with their style and how they operate.”

But she also recognizes that, in her words, “I’m tenacious. I’m hungry. I’m competitive. You combine that with the fact that I’ll have the absolute best equipment underneath me at John Force Racing, and I have no doubt we’re absolutely going to hit the ground running next season. I fully expect for our Bandero Café Chevy Camaro team to be part of the conversation next fall.”

DeJoria called her former team owner, Del Worsham, and John Force her “idols” and “the two people that I’ve always looked up to the most. I’ve had the honor of driving for Del, and now, I’ll drive for the legendary John Force.”

Of Force, she said, “I have the utmost respect and admiration for him, his will, his tenacity. He’s been through everything you can imagine while driving a nitro Funny Car, and he's persevered. He is NHRA drag racing. There will never be another John Force, and the fact that I get to drive for the legend himself is a true highlight of my career and an opportunity I couldn’t refuse.”

Furthermore, DeJoria said, “Since day one, my goal has been to become the sport’s first female Funny Car world champion, and that is what I have been working towards for many years. I’ve been fortunate to drive for some of the best teams and team owners out here. To be invited to drive for John Force Racing means so much to me and is another step forward in my career. JFR has a Funny Car program that’s unmatched, and the results speak for themselves. All you have to do is look at their track record [24 championships].”

She said she never thought this opportunity would come her way. Even after some initial conversations that didn’t materialize for 2025, she continued to figure it might not ever happen.

“For the longest time, this wasn’t something that I ever pictured for myself—not because I didn’t want it to happen, but because I didn’t think it was possible,” she said. But this first woman at JFR without the last name “Force” and without a family connection said, “Back when I started my nitro career, it was John, Robert [Hight], Courtney [Force], and Mike Neff, and then it was John, Robert, Courtney, and Brittany [Force]. Everyone who was driving there at the time either had the last name Force or was part of the Force family in some capacity, with the exception of Mike.

“I always thought it was cool that all of John’s daughters raced. He put his girls in record-breaking, championship-winning race cars, and I couldn’t be more stoked to now be a part of that program,” DeJoria said.

Ironically, Force’s influence has been woven through the fabric of her professional career. He, along with Worsham, signed her license in 2011, when she graduated from the Top Alcohol Funny Car ranks.

“They were also the ones to sign my nitro Funny Car license back in 2011, so this truly feels like a full-circle moment for me,” she said.

Although she lost her share of match-ups with him, DeJoria earned her first Funny Car round-win by beating Force in the first round of the 2012 Gatornationals. She defeated him in the semifinals of the 2014 Arizona Nationals en route to her first Funny Car victory. And later that season, she outran him in the final of the US Nationals for the biggest triumph of her career.