Ida Zetterström Discusses Chasing Opportunity Ahead of One-Year NHRA Anniversary

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (August 6, 2025) – Multi-time European drag racing champion Ida Zetterström made her NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel debut nearly one year ago at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. As the fan favorite prepares to return to the track that launched her American drag racing career, she took some time to share her thoughts on a whirlwind season that included winning the National Dragster All-Star Team fan vote for ‘Best New Talent,’ blogging her experience for Autoweek, and pursuing every possible opportunity to maximize her exposure and sharpen her skills as a driver.

After earning an FIA European Top Fuel championship in 2023, Zetterström uprooted her life in her native Finland to pursue her dream of making a name for herself in the National Hot Rod Association with the Brownsburg-based JCM Racing team. With an unfathomable drive, Zetterström has been relentless in her pursuit of attracting potential marketing partners as she works towards a full-time NHRA Top Fuel career. Since hitting the track in Brainerd last August, the Swedish National Motorsports Team member has competed on a limited basis, having recently completed her 16th NHRA event at the Sonoma Nationals. 

Despite not running a full season, Zetterström is quickly cementing herself as a name in the sport of NHRA Drag Racing. She recently attended the Bristol NASCAR race as an NHRA ambassador, was a featured speaker at the Business of Women’s Sports Summit in New York, and has even joined the NHRA.tv crew in the announcers’ booth to bring color commentary and insightful interviews to fans. 

What moment from your first year competing in NHRA made you stop and think, “Wow, I really belong here”?

During my debut in Brainerd, I felt so welcomed by all the teams. A lot of drivers who have raced out here for many years gave me words of encouragement. One moment that stands out for me was when Jack Beckman (2012 Funny Car world champion) came up to me and said, ‘You handle press interviews like you've been doing this for years. Way better than I did when I started.’ And, I mean, he's one of the best. Moments like that mean a lot to me.

I had that feeling again during qualifying in Indianapolis at the U.S. Nationals the weekend after my debut. The field was so tough. I remember sitting at the top end, realizing that there were championship contenders who did not qualify, and we did. Then we went on to win the first round. Having such a strong kick-off in two events (Zetterström had a semifinal finish in Brainerd, followed by a quarterfinal finish in Indianapolis) back-to-back made us feel like this is where we belong. It was especially important because even though we’ve had some struggles this season, we know what we’re capable of, and that keeps us motivated. 

What’s something you know now that you wish you had known going into your debut season?

I think something that surprised me the most that I hadn’t really considered was the added advantage of having a car that is built specifically for you. The car I raced in Europe was originally built for Leah Pruett, and we are pretty similar in size, whereas the car I drive here was built for Tony Schumacher.

Since I’ve been competing in the U.S., my positioning in the car is something we’ve been working on a lot. The cars have different brands of components over here. How it all comes together can make a big impact. It takes some time, especially when you don’t race in all of the events, because you can’t change 10 things all at once. You’ve got to keep testing and trying. 

What’s one of your proudest achievements?

Being named National Dragster’s ‘Best New Talent’ at the 2024 PRI show was a huge accomplishment. I was up against a loaded rookie class last year. It wasn’t just one or two drivers in the hunt for the Rookie of the Year award; there were several of us. I would of course loved to have won that, but the truth is, we raced only 8 of the 20 events so the cards were stacked against us from the start. Winning Best New Talent was so meaningful because that award was based on a fan vote, and to feel like the fans see the potential in us and are taking notice of what we are building, it truly means a lot. 

We are still at the beginning of this journey. I know I’ve got a great crew chief in Jon (Schaffer), and I’m doing all that I can as a driver to give myself and our team every performance advantage possible. I’m in the gym every chance I get and I regularly work with an eye doctor in Indy who specializes in helping high-performance athletes optimize the way our eyes communicate with our brains. We’ve got a great team, but it’s not about every individual and how great they are separately. Everything has to fall in line. There’s so much that has to come together to get a winning performance.

When you consider all of that, it’s pretty impressive that we can show up to a race and still qualify in a decent position even though we are on a limited schedule. We’ve qualified at every event we’ve raced at, and that’s saying something. We are going up against the best in the world - teams that have larger budgets, tons and tons of data, and 30 years of experience on us. 

What kind of mark would you like to make on drag racing history? 

Overall, I want to show people that hard work really can take you anywhere. It’s taken a lot of hard work just to make it this far. And I was told for many years that I would never make it. While I’m definitely proud of making it to the NHRA, that’s not enough for me. I don’t want to just say that I raced in America; I want to say I won championships in America. 

What keeps you pushing forward even when the odds are steep?

I know we can do so much more, and we have more to prove. I know we're not that far off. This is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life, but knowing I’ve made it this far keeps me pushing forward.

Looking back on your first year…

I’m so grateful that Joe Maynard has allowed me the opportunity to come over here and race. I had other opportunities, but there are several reasons why I chose to work with JCM. Joe wasn't looking for a driver at the time, but he built a whole operation around me because he saw the potential in me to become a world champion, and that means a lot. We also both see the value of the business side of motorsports. Joe allows me to be very involved in the conversations with our partners, and that’s important to me. I take pride in being a part of the day-to-day operations in the shop as well as having a seat at the table when it comes to partner negotiations and having a say in what those deliverables will look like. Joe has trusted in me to take on such an active role in building our Top Fuel program from the ground up, and I’m very appreciative of that. Another thing that JCM does that I think is really cool is their support of the Jr. racers. It’s been such a great experience to get to know and work with a new generation of drivers and I don’t know if I would have had that opportunity somewhere else.

What do you hope we’ll be talking about a year from now?

Hopefully, we’ll be talking about how it feels to race full-time with a fully funded team. Ideally, I’d like to be in a situation where we have multi-year partners, where we don’t just have to plan for one year ahead. We can plan for several years and build a long-term strategy to win multiple championships rather than just trying to piece together as many opportunities to go racing as we can. So that’s my biggest hope; I’d also like to be reminiscing about some great wins. 

Any dream sponsors, collaborations, or projects that you would love to pursue?

I love animals and working with any charity or organization that supports animal welfare. So, if at some point I’m able to connect two of my passions – drag racing and animals – that would of course be a dream. But beyond collaborating with a charity, I’d love to have the opportunity to bring a new non-endemic sponsor into the sport. There is such an untapped market here in drag racing, especially when you factor in the diversity of our racers and fanbase. It would be really cool to be part of a brand’s initial introduction into NHRA and be a part of their launch campaign from the very beginning. Feeling like we get to hit the ground running and build something from scratch and make a big impact together would be amazing.