Ida Zetterström Misses Out on First NHRA Pedalfest Opportunity
Competing on the zMAX Dragway track for the first time, NHRA Rookie of the Year candidate Ida Zetterström was in pursuit of adding more round wins to her growing list of accomplishments on American soil. After earning a spot on the NHRA Carolina Nationals eliminations ladder, the Swedish-born racer faced Brittany Force on Sunday, but her day was cut short after her car unexpectedly shut off shortly after losing traction in the first round.
The Jon Schaffer-tuned JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge team opened qualifying with a solid run of 3.797 seconds at 317.94 mph in unseasonably hot and humid conditions. The run provisionally placed Zetterström 12th in the qualifying order. Looking to crack into the top half of the field in Friday night’s cooler conditions, the 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion rolled up to the starting line for the second qualifying session but lost traction right at the hit. Traction issues continued during the third session and she went into Q4 sitting on the ‘bump’ spot in 16th with 18 cars competing for a chance to race on Sunday. With one session remaining, Zetterström closed out qualifying with a good-looking pass of 3.807 seconds and secured the No. 16 seed to start race day.
On Sunday, Zetterström lined up next to Force, the No. 1 qualifier, and carried the early lead while her opponent went up in smoke in the opposite lane. Zetterström’s machine then lost traction shortly after. The NHRA newbie attempted to pedal her car but quickly realized it had suddenly shut off and all she could do was hang on and coast to the finish line while Force pedaled her car to the win.
“I had a good feeling about Sunday,” said Zetterström following her fourth NHRA event. “Obviously, this was our worst qualifying performance so far, ending up in 16th so we faced the No. 1 qualifier in the first round. We made it down the track on Saturday night in really hot and tricky conditions when not a lot of cars were making it down, and we ran the quickest pass of the left lane, so we did have some good data to go off of. It was another hot one again today. I did feel like we had a good chance going into first round and we were actually ahead for a good part of the race but as I spun the tires, my car shut off, so I never really had the opportunity to pedal it.
“When the car shuts off, you lose your opportunity to be able to get back on the throttle,” she continued. “I was trying to squeeze the throttle and get the car to hook back up again but there was nothing there. I heard Brittany pedal her car and I could hear she was behind me, which is definitely heartbreaking when you’re in the car and you know that your opponent is behind you and they have the opportunity to squeeze back on the throttle and I couldn’t. We saw that in the miles-per-hour. I think I clocked in at 147, so I had definitely been off the throttle for a long time there. That’s one of the toughest situations you can be in as a driver because its unbelievably frustrating knowing you are ahead but there’s nothing you can do about it. All you can do is hope that they don’t catch you. We haven’t had a lot of tire spin on race days. During qualifying, if you smoke the tires, you usually just lift but we haven’t had that happen much in eliminations, so this would have been an opportunity for me to have my first NHRA pedalfest, but we’ll have to save that for another time.”
Zetterström and the JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge will only have to wait a few days before hitting the dragstrip once again as the NHRA competes next at Gateway Motorsports Park, next weekend, September 27-29.
This story was originally published on September 23, 2024.
The post Ida Zetterström Misses Out on First NHRA Pedalfest Opportunity first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
