Ida Zetterström Reaches First Career NHRA Top Fuel Final Round at Midwest Nationals

joec570
Sep 29
6 min read

Updated: Oct 17

NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals

Event 17 of 20

World Wide Technology Raceway

Madison, Ill.

Sept. 26 - 28

Ida Zetterström Reaches First Career NHRA Top Fuel Final Round at Midwest Nationals

MADISON, Ill. (Sept. 28, 2025) – In a last-minute appearance at the NHRA Midwest Nationals, 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion Ida Zetterström raced to her first career final round in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Sunday afternoon at World Wide Technology Raceway. Competing in the shadows of St. Louis’s Gateway Arch, Zetterström posted a runner-up finish in her JCM Racing Top Fuel dragster after leaving the starting line first ahead of 2023 NHRA Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta. It was a feel-good weekend for Zetterström, who will continue her second partial season in NHRA competition at the upcoming Texas NHRA FallNationals.

Zetterström’s best performance in qualifying came in the second session on Friday evening when she fired off a 3.788-second pass at 328.78 mph to go into Saturday qualified No. 13. She followed that up with a consistent 3.820 E.T. at 325.30 mph in the third session, then went into tire smoke on the final qualifying attempt.

Racing out of the No. 14 slot, Zetterström started Sunday eliminations with a monster matchup against regular season champion Tony Stewart. Zetterström showed just how bad she wanted the round win as she cut a perfect .000-second reaction time to lead Stewart out of the gate. Though her nitro-burning engine pushed out a head gasket before the finish line, she was quick enough to get the win with a 3.801 E.T. at 323.66 mph. She led wire to wire again in the second round, where her consistent 3.802 E.T. at 326.87 mph defeated Kyle Wurtzel and his 3.889. In Zetterström’s second semifinal appearance since her debut race in 2024, she was first off the starting line yet again, this time against four-time and reigning world champion Antron Brown. She started to spin the tires as she approached the finish line, but she held on for the win with a 3.925-second pass at 292.08 mph.

The final round saw a battle between drivers who won Top Fuel championships on two different continents in 2023 – Zetterström in Europe and Kalitta in North America. For the fourth time all day, it was Zetterström who moved first. She started to haze the tires, though, and crossed the finish line behind Kalitta. Considering the Midwest Nationals wasn’t even on Zetterström’s part-time schedule until just a few days before the event, she was more than happy with the team’s final-round appearance one year after JCM Racing won in St. Louis.

“We gave it our all and put up a good fight,” said Zetterström, who’s pursuing funding for a 2026 campaign. “Obviously, we were trying to go a little faster so we could try to beat Doug. It’s very frustrating when you’re in the car and you see your opponent pulling away. I’m such a bad loser so I was sad when I got to the top end, but overall, really proud of all that this team has accomplished this weekend. We’ve been talking about how we’ve had issues and we’re trying to figure this program out, and I feel like we’ve shown this weekend that when our car is running the way it should, we can be a contender out here and run with anyone. That’s a big, fat exclamation point to anyone that doubts us.

“I’m so thankful to Joe and PJ Maynard for deciding to add this race to our schedule at the last minute,” Zetterström continued. “Joe saw the progress we were making the last time we tested, and he wanted us out here to prove that in competition, and I’m really happy he did.”

Zetterström and the JCM Racing Top Fuel team, which represents brands like VP Racing Fuels and Dodge, will continue to prove themselves in two weeks at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, Oct. 10-12, at the Texas Motorplex outside Dallas.

Qualified: No. 14 (3.788 E.T. at 328.78 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:

E1: 3.801 E.T. at 323.66 MPH defeated Tony Stewart 3.927 E.T. at 298.93 MPH
E2: 3.802 E.T. at 326.87 MPH defeated Kyle Wurtzel 3.889 E.T. at 321.04 MPH
E3: 3.925 E.T. at 292.08 MPH defeated Antron Brown 5.663 E.T. at 132.41 MPH
E4: 4.036 E.T. at 247.79 MPH defeated by Doug Kalitta 3.796 E.T. at 327.98 MPH

Alexis DeJoria on Wrong Side of Good Drag Race During NHRA Midwest Nationals Quarterfinals

Alexis DeJoria, a five-time semifinalist in 2025, closed out the first half of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship with a quarterfinal finish this weekend at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill. It was a solid outing for DeJoria and her Bandero Café team as they continue their climb in the Mission Foods Funny Car standings heading into the final stretch of the season. With three races to go, DeJoria will leave World Wide Technology Raceway in ninth place and within two round wins of the No. 7 and No. 8-seeded drivers.

DeJoria began her weekend at the St. Louis-area facility by powering her Bandero Café Funny Car down the track in 3.956 seconds at 326.95 mph to place her in the provisional No. 7 spot. On Friday night under the lights, DeJoria was straight down the groove once again, clocking a 3.900 E.T. at 332.84 mph to move up one spot to sixth. Saturday’s first run gave way to tire smoke and in the final qualifying session, DeJoria appeared to be on another good run before her machine lost traction just past halftrack. With four rounds of qualifying in the books, DeJoria’s Q2 pass held strong for sixth to secure a qualifying position in the top half of the field for the 10th time this year.

During Sunday eliminations, DeJoria lined up against Paul Lee in round one. Lee nabbed the early lead but started to lose traction and DeJoria had him chased down by the time the two cars reached halftrack. Her car started to pull the tires loose shortly after, but she hung on for the win to advance into round two. In the quarterfinals, DeJoria and Daniel Wilkerson put on an incredible show for the fans. Aboard their 12,000-horsepower vehicles, DeJoria and Wilkerson clocked the two quickest elapsed times of the round, but ultimately, it was Wilkerson who was able to get the win with his 3.947 E.T. versus DeJoria’s 3.966-second effort. While DeJoria would have preferred a longer race day, she takes comfort in knowing she will head into the final three events with a fast and consistent hot rod.

“Friday night qualifying, we kicked butt and that led us to finish in the top half of the field in sixth and we were really happy about that,” DeJoria said as she recounted her weekend. “The lanes were a little tricky here. Sometimes you go out there and smoke the tires at 330 (feet), and sometimes you make it down. First round, we mostly got past the trouble zone and managed to get the win. Wasn’t my best work on the starting line, and we didn’t make a full run, but we got lucky that round and were able to make it to round two, which got us some good points. Surprisingly, we had lane choice against Daniel Wilkerson despite that 4.28 from E1. We swapped lanes at the last minute and made a great run. We had the second-best E.T. of the round. Unfortunately, the car we were running had the best E.T. of the round. If we had lined up next to anyone else, we would have won, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

“That being said, we’re happy with how our car ran this weekend. (Crew chiefs) Mike (Neff) and Todd (Smith) have been working on some things, and the car did what they wanted it to do, so that is progress. We’re not hanging our heads. Drag racing is hard. You’ve got to build, you’ve got to connect; sometimes you’ve got to get a lucky draw. That’s just how it is out here. But when you win, it just melts all your troubles away like magic, and that’s why we do this. Not a lot of people can handle it; it’s a mental sport, and if you’re not mentally strong, you’re not going to last here.”

DeJoria, a six-time Funny Car winner who appears on the cusp of scoring her first Wally trophy with her first-year JCM Racing team, will leave St. Louis ranked ninth in the Funny Car standings, up one position from their Charlotte outing last week. The Bandero Café team will return to their JCM Racing headquarters near Indianapolis, where they will prepare for the upcoming Texas NHRA FallNationals, Oct. 10 – 12.

Qualified: No. 6 (3.900 E.T. at 332.84 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:

E1: 4.281 E.T. at 219.19 MPH defeated Paul Lee 4.524 E.T. at 191.38 MPH
E2: 3.966 E.T. at 329.83 MPH defeated by Daniel Wilkerson 3.947 E.T. at 323.43 MPH

NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car Point Standings (Unofficial):

1 Austin Prock 2361

2 Matt Hagan 2321

3 Jack Beckman 2316

4 Ron Capps 2236

5 Dan Wilkerson 2224

6 Paul Lee 2203

7 Cruz Pedregon 2199

8 Spencer Hyde 2165

9 Alexis DeJoria 2161

10 Chad Green 2159

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