Ida Zetterström Reflects on Rookie Season in NHRA Ahead of Final Two Events
As teams prepare to “pull the ‘chutes” on the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season, Swedish speedster turned Indianapolis resident Ida Zetterström is eager to finish strong in the race to become NHRA’s Rookie of the Year. With seven other candidates up for the title, the driver of the JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel dragster knows that the competition for this coveted award is fierce, but she’s hopeful that her many contributions to the sport, across two continents, will help her chances at winning this year’s Road to the Future award.
The select group of motorsports media who elect the Rookie of the Year are encouraged to consider on-track and off-track achievements. This is good news for Zetterström because although she only started competing in August, she’s gone above and beyond to make her mark on the series all season long.
While eagerly awaiting her chance to get behind the wheel of a JCM Racing Top Fuel dragster, Zetterström attended every 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Series event leading up to her late-summer debut. Although she would have preferred to be in the cockpit, Zetterström wholeheartedly adopted the role of being an extra set of hands for her teammate Tony Schumacher’s crew. She pitched in wherever she could, helping with everything from mixing fuel to packing parachutes. The opposite of a bystander, Zetterström used the opportunity of touring the NHRA circuit to get to know fans in each market, while also capitalizing on the chance to learn the unique characteristics of each facility so that she is well-prepared when she returns as a competitor.
Zetterström’s passion for NHRA Drag Racing and growing its audience shines in everything she does. With a distinct knack for social media, she has helped promote NHRA to her global social following of almost 250,000 while traveling the Mission Foods Series circuit.
After making the rounds at every major media outlet in Minneapolis, the current European FIA Top Fuel champion launched her U.S. debut in Brainerd, Minn. with a fun, tongue-in-cheek Rookie of the Year campaign, a nod to the 2024 presidential race and American politics. She enjoyed playing into the fact that competing in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series is truly her “American Dream.” While in Brainerd, she hit the campaign trail with a patriotic golf cart caravan through the famous “Zoo” at Brainerd International Raceway, passing out ‘Ida for Rookie of the Year’ campaign buttons, hand fans, and yard signs. On race day, she wowed fans when she won her very first round of competition by defeating a multi-time world champion on a holeshot. She raced to a semifinal finish at that event and capped off the weekend with a virtual press conference to discuss her first experience as an NHRA competitor. Leading up to her debut, Zetterström participated in MotorTrend’s Roadkill Nights event near Detroit where she unveiled her dragster live on Instagram.
Amidst a whirlwind of media and public appearances that includes a feature in The Guardian, an international outlet that boasts more than 100 million unique monthly visitors, throwing out the first pitch at an Indianapolis Indians game, and a guest spot on Sweden’s top morning and nighttime talk shows, Nyhetsmorgon and Carina Bergfeldt, Zetterström has been documenting her rookie season via a dedicated blog series on Autoweek.com.
“Ida is the quintessential Rookie of the Year,” stated JCM Racing owner Joe Maynard. “She uprooted her life in Europe to pursue her dreams of competing in the NHRA and has enthusiastically contributed to the drag racing community in more ways than I can count. Her intensity is evident in everything she does – whether it’s giving it her all on the track, jam-packing her schedule full of appearances and overseas trips, or going above and beyond to make sure her social media content is captivating and engaging, it’s clear that Ida is all-in on becoming one of the headliners of the sport. She’s not here to be an also-ran, she’s got her sights set on being a future NHRA champion, and I’m proud to have her in our stable representing the JCM Racing team. I hope the powers that be will look past the fact that she’s only been on track for eight of 20 races because she’s truly done whatever she can to make an impact all year long.”
A native of Sweden, Zetterström moved more than 4,000 miles from her friends and family to the Indianapolis area in January so she could be hands-on in the development of her Top Fuel team. She’s worked hand-in-hand with her crew chief Jon Schaffer to build her entire drag racing operation from scratch, playing an integral role in getting the team ready to hit the track. Part of her daily duties have included outfitting the team’s brand-new trucks and trailers, designing wraps, crew shirts, firesuits, and hero cards, among other marketing materials, booking team travel, and working with NHRA’s tech department to ensure SFI compliance.
Zetterström is doing her part to encourage her throngs of European fans to follow her NHRA journey while ensuring that she remains active in the European racing scene. She is the first drag racer in history to be invited to join the Swedish National Motorsport Team. Ambassadors from the team joined Zetterström at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis to meet with NHRA’s executive staff in order to foster a mutually beneficial relationship between the two organizations. Recently, Zetterström was named Team Captain for Sweden in the 2024 FIA Motorsport Games and is currently in Valencia, Spain fulfilling that role before heading back to the States to compete in the NHRA Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas. To date, she has visited Europe four times since the start of the NHRA season, including three times to host the European-based IN//OUT show, which draws approximately 500,000 views per episode, and representing JCM Racing and NHRA behind the wheel of her former Top Fuel car at NitrOlympX in Hockenheim, Germany, an event which touted 60,000 spectators.
The NHRA states:
“The NHRA Rookie of the Year award recognizes the top rookie competitor who also represents the future of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. The nation’s leading auto racing journalists select the winner through a voting system based on the following criteria: number of events competed in, performance on and off the racetrack, participation in NHRA promotions, and relationships with fans, sponsors, and media.”
With hundreds of fans surrounding Zetterström’s pit at each event and thousands following her journey across multiple platforms, her future in NHRA is bright. She looks forward to finishing the season strong while continuing to perfect her skills as a driver and nurture her relationships with valued sponsor partners.
“I’m blown away by how welcoming and supportive the NHRA fanbase has been,” said Zetterström. “The coolest thing for me is being able to see that it doesn’t matter where you live, what language you speak, or what continent you live on, we’re all here for the love of the sport. Uprooting your life and everything you know isn’t easy but the fan support both here and abroad has made the transition so much easier. I also want to acknowledge my partners, my team, and of course Joe Maynard, all of whom have helped make my American dream a reality. Thank you for continuing to back me as I settle into life in the NHRA.”
This story was originally published on October 25, 2024.
The post Ida Zetterström Reflects on Rookie Season in NHRA Ahead of Final Two Events first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
