Alexis DeJoria, Jesse James have close ties with Mercedes F1 team
269,889 people were on hand at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas last weekend for the 2016 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.
Among them were NHRA Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria and her husband Jesse James.
DeJoria - who has been to every F1 race at CoTA - has a long history at the track, dating back to before it had officially opened.
“I was actually the very first race car driver to ever drive on the racetrack," explained DeJoria, "right before it was paved, in a Toyota Tundra loaned from me from my manufacturer sponsor Toyota Racing.
“It was just a fun, like, ‘let’s try it out before they pave it’ kind of thing. It wasn’t anything crazy but there were still tractors moving dirt and all that so it was a cool way to kind of see it all get put together.”
While a 24-weekend racing schedule in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series keeps DeJoria busy for most of the year, she says she still tries to keep up with Formula One, and says she would like to give one of the cars a try one day. Herself and Jesse James already have ties with the Mercedes F1 team.
A photo posted by Alexis DeJoria (@alexisdejoria) on Oct 23, 2016 at 1:09pm PDT
