JCM Racing Post-Race Recap: Seattle

Muckleshoot Casino & Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals

Event 11 of 20

Pacific Raceways

Kent, Wash.

July 18 – 20, 2025

Alexis DeJoria Races to Fourth Semifinal of 2025 at NHRA Northwest Nationals

Alexis DeJoria started her West Coast campaign with a semifinal finish Sunday at the Muckleshoot Casino & Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Driving the Bandero Café Funny Car, DeJoria turned in one of her most impressive race day performances of the season, winning back-to-back rounds on holeshots to reach the semifinals for the fourth time in 2025.

After qualifying No. 11 with a 3.973-second pass at 328.94 mph, DeJoria faced Chad Green in the first round of eliminations. DeJoria left first with a sharp .065 reaction time and used it to her advantage, powering to a 3.936 E.T. at 330.39 mph to edge out Green’s quicker-but-losing 3.915 at 328.06 mph. She followed up with another holeshot win in round two, this time over 2018 Funny Car world champion J.R. Todd. DeJoria ran her quickest pass of the weekend, a 3.918 at 330.80 mph, to hold off Todd’s 3.907 at 336.32 mph. In the semifinals, DeJoria ran another strong 3.946 E.T. at 329.34 mph but couldn’t keep pace with a charging Matt Hagan, who posted a 3.879 at 332.92 mph to advance.

“What a great weekend for the Bandero Café Funny Car team back here at Pacific Raceways, where I won my very first national event in Top Alcohol Funny Car,” DeJoria said. “I don't know if it's the oxygen in the air from all the trees around the track or what, but man, what a great day. We were all just feeling it. We didn’t qualify the greatest, but on race day, anything can happen. In the first round, we ran good in the right lane when lots of people were not making it down. I cut an excellent light and got a holeshot win. Just to get past the first round was big because the last couple of races have been tough and we haven't made it past the first round, so that was huge. That felt like a win in itself. We're progressing and it's really coming together. I really thought today was our day. We made up some really good points, we're back in the top 10, and we have another race, Sonoma, in a couple of days.”

DeJoria’s semifinal finish helped her jump from No. 11 to No. 8 in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car standings with just three races remaining before playoff positions are locked in.

With Sunday’s performance, DeJoria also secured a spot in the upcoming #2Fast2Tasty Mission Foods Challenge during qualifying at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway, where she’ll look to continue her mid-season climb.

Qualified: No. 11 (3.973 E.T. at 328.94 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:

• E1: 3.936 E.T. at 330.39 MPH defeated Chad Green 3.915 E.T. at 328.06 MPH

• E2: 3.918 E.T. at 330.80 MPH defeated J.R. Todd 3.907 E.T. at 336.32 MPH

• E3: 3.946 E.T. at 329.34 MPH defeated by Matt Hagan 3.879 E.T. at 332.92 MPH

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

1 Austin Prock 903

2 Jack Beckman 763

3 Matt Hagan 737

4 Ron Capps 726

5 Paul Lee 679

6 J.R. Todd 589

7 Dan Wilkerson 584

8 Alexis DeJoria 502

9 Cruz Pedregon 499

10 Chad Green 484

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Ida Zetterström Leaves Seattle Grateful and Focused as Her NHRA Journey Continues

Ida Zetterström is leaving Pacific Raceways filled with gratitude after having the opportunity to compete in the Muckleshoot Casino & Resort NHRA Northwest Nationals, an addition to her limited competition schedule this season. Zetterström made her best pass of the weekend against two-time NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force in the opening round of eliminations. Still, it was not enough to add another round win to the 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion’s season total.

Returning to racing action in Washington after a six-week hiatus, the JCM Racing Top Fuel team struggled to put a clean pass together during qualifying. They landed in the No. 10 spot on the qualifying sheet to face Force in eliminations in a rematch of Zetterström’s last first-round matchup in Bristol, Tenn., in June.

Against her round-one opponent, Zetterström zipped down the track to record a run of 3.752 seconds at 330.63 mph, but it was not enough to hold off Force’s 3.696 at 340.82.

“It’s been a tough weekend for us,” remarked Zetterström. "I had the best reaction times I’ve had in a while throughout qualifying, so I felt really confident about that. But we had to make some last-minute changes last night to fix some other things in the car, which meant that I wasn’t able to repeat that today. We know what we need to do; we just need to find that happy medium to get everything set up perfectly for both the car and the driver. I wish I could have left on a higher note in terms of my performance, but I don’t know how much my reaction time would have mattered, looking at Brittany’s run. I’m happy we got that A-to-B pass, so we have a foundation to work from when we get to Sonoma. We also know more about what we need to do with the car to get me back to my happy spot, where we can be on point with reaction times. I think I’ve shown that I can do it. It’s about getting everything to come together in a way that will work best for us. People don’t realize how many small things go into it behind the scenes.

"All in all, I’m very happy that we were able to add Seattle to our schedule. Even though we struggled through qualifying, I feel like this was an extra race we could use to get ready for Sonoma. When you are out of the circuit for six or seven weeks, it’s hard to get back into it, not just for me but for the entire crew. We want to add more races and close those gaps. That’s why it’s so beneficial to compete in these back-to-back events. I’m looking forward to Sonoma. I’m doing a media tour in Sonoma this week, and I’m excited to kick the weekend off right.”

This weekend's event was the first time Zetterström had the opportunity to compete at Pacific Raceways, an experience she’s relishing. “The track was pretty tricky, but I’m glad to gain the data so we know how to handle it in the future. And the fans have been really amazing. This is a great facility and I’m so glad we were able to add it to the schedule this year.”

Zetterström and the JCM Racing team will continue their pursuit of earning their first Wally next weekend in Sonoma, Calif., at the Denso Sonoma Nationals presented by PowerEdge, July 25-27, at Sonoma Raceway.

Qualified: No. 10 (4.641 E.T. at 167.97 MPH)

Elimination Round Results:

E1: 3.752 E.T. at 330.63 MPH defeated by Brittany Force 3.696 E.T. at 340.82 MPH