It was the most painful month of her life - both literally and figuratively. 

After suffering a broken pelvis during a crash at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, Alexis DeJoria knew she would miss some time, she just didn’t know how much. She knew that she would miss the Northwest Nationals one week later in Seattle, so she set her sights on a return in mid-August in Brainerd.

And then that date came and went. Suddenly DeJoria, with a win already this season and a spot comfortably in the Countdown to the Championship, was left wondering just when she would be given the green light to return.

“That first week was very painful,” a dejected DeJoria said. “There was nothing I could really do. I couldn’t start physical therapy because it was just too soon. They just wanted me to stay at home and rest and heal. That was tough, but at the same time, I was in so much pain, there’s no place I really wanted to be at that moment.”

But as the days and weeks passed by, DeJoria found herself feeling better and better. She worked at rehabbing her body, then she began working on the mental aspect. Before long, the driver of the Tequila Patron Funny Car knew that her time was coming - and it would probably come at Indy.

“I had a lot of help from my family and my husband. What can I say? I was an impatient athlete. Every athlete will tell you the same thing, you try to hurry the process, hurry the recovery as fast as you can,” DeJoria said. “When I left Sonoma I was on crutches. I was on crutches for the first four or five days and after that, I was like, ‘to hell with these things. If I have to hobble around, I will do that.’

“I tried to get back for Brainerd, but there was no way. My crew chief and doctors were like, ‘Alexis, no. You might feel better physically, but you still have a fractured bone and that is going to heal when it wants to heal.’ After that I circled Indy. That is when I was coming back.”

With a little help from her teammates, DeJoria finished up her rehab and was given the green light to compete this weekend just this past week. And, as you might imagine, there was no holding her back once she got behind the wheel.

“Del (Worsham) offered to test the car, giving me a little more time to heal. I got the x-rays done a week before I came out here and even the doctors were amazed. All the therapy, all the treatments I’ve been doing every week, really worked,” DeJoria said. “And there was no hesitation when I got back in the car. I was gunning for people.

“We got a brand new seat poured. It is super comfortable, we had to make a few adjustments, it was a little hard to steer that first pass, but we are getting the hang of it. I’m ready to fight.”

DeJoria, the 2014 winner of the U.S. Nationals, enters this weekend’s event at Lucas Oil Raceway 10th in points, 87 points clear of Chad Head. She will look to secure her spot this weekend in the Countdown to the Championship with a strong performance.