Maynard Family Racing
DeJoria and the Bandero Café Funny Car Team Ready to Make Max Effort at Brainerd
Brainerd, MN – Alexis has advanced to four semifinal finishes so far in 2025, but is still seeking her first final round appearance with the first-
year JCM Racing Bandero Café Funny Car team.
DeJoria is currently occupies the No. 10 spot in the Funny Car point standings with two races remaining before playoff positions for the ’25 Countdown to the Championship are set.
During the 2014 event, DeJoria became the first Funny Car pilot to clock a sub-four-second run on the BIR track (3.998 E.T. during round two of eliminations).
Alexis on the significance of this weekends event. “Brainerd is an important race for our team right now. The points are tight but really, that’s not our main focus. For us, we want to prioritize going rounds and getting more runs under our belt to continue to add data and build for the future. Getting some more round wins and potentially winning our first race would be epic, no doubt. Especially at Brainerd, a track where I’ve had success in the past.” Continue reading
Ida Zetterstrom Back in the Seat for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Brainerd, MN – Ida made her American Top Fuel debut with JCM Racing at the 2024 Brainerd event where she powered to a semifinal finish
In honor of her one-year NHRA anniversary, Zetterström will run a special throwback livery at BIR with her dragster decked out to look similar to her ’24 red, white, and blue scheme.
The Brainerd race was recently added to Zetterström’s limited schedule, and marks the third of four consecutive events for the JCM Racing Top Fuel team. Friday marks a special event for the JCM Team as team owner Joe Maynard celebrates his birthday on Aug. 15
“I’m very excited to get back to Brainerd, which marks one year since my NHRA debut. The fans last year gave us an incredible welcome and I can’t wait to see them all. For this race only, we’re going to run the livery we debuted with. We got so much love for that scheme; it was part of our Rookie of the Year campaign, and I think the fans really enjoyed the red, white, and blue. So, it’ll be nice to have a little memory from last season on board,” explained Ida. Continue reading
Ida Zetterström Discusses Chasing Opportunity Ahead of One-Year NHRA Anniversary
BROWNSBURG, IN – 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. Continue reading
Despite Strong Run, Alexis DeJoria Exits Early at Sonoma Nationals
SONOMA, CA – Fresh off an impressive performance at the NHRA Northwest Nationals where she won back-to-back rounds on holeshots to 
reach the semifinals for the fourth time in 2025, Alexis DeJoria rolled into Sonoma Raceway eager to keep the momentum building at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals but ultimately came up short on race day after a tough first-round match against the event’s No. 2 qualifier.
The weekend’s varying conditions challenged the Bandero Café Funny Car team throughout qualifying. In Friday’s opening session, DeJoria’s machine hazed the tires, and she finished the round sitting in 15th. In round two, she experienced severe tire shake as soon as she hit the throttle and went into Saturday occupying the No. 17 spot. Her Q3 run was off to a good start, but a dropped cylinder caused the car to slow, and she went into the final round not yet qualified. In their final attempt, crew chiefs Mike Neff and Todd Smith sent DeJoria down the track in 3.983 seconds at 326.16 mph to bump into the field.
Starting from 15th, DeJoria drew Spencer Hyde as her first-round competitor in what was billed as NHRA’s Funny Car Marquee Matchup of the race. Lining up opposite Hyde for the first time in his rookie season, DeJoria snagged the starting line advantage and took her Bandero Café Funny Car to the finish line stripe in 3.913 seconds but despite clocking her quickest pass of the weekend, it wasn’t enough to defeat Hyde’s 3.870-second E.T. Continue reading
Ida Zetterström Continues to Show Progress at Sonoma
SONOMA, CA – Ida Zetterström and the JCM Racing Top Fuel team made strides at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals, posting solid runs in 
challenging conditions, but a first-round loss to the reigning world champ Sunday morning ended her chance at going rounds on race day.
Making her 16th NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series start and first appearance at Sonoma Raceway, the multi-time European drag racing champion opened the weekend with a strong run in the first qualifying session, taking her 12,000-horsepower machine straight down the groove in 3.754 seconds at 328.70 mph to place her fourth on the timing sheets. During Friday’s nighttime run, her dragster lost traction early, but she quickly rebounded, clocking another good, clean pass of 3.730 seconds at 331.45 mph on Saturday in Q3. A loss of traction followed in Q4 and once qualifying had wrapped, she settled into the No. 7 position on the Top Fuel elimination ladder.
Facing the category’s defending event champion, Zetterström lined up next to Antron Brown on Sunday morning, ready to add more round wins to her total. She took the JCM Racing dragster on a respectable 3.739-second at 323.12 mph ride but was outpaced by Brown’s 3.718-second pass. Continue reading
DeJoria and the Bandero Café Funny Car Team Looking to Capitalize on Last Weeks Performance
Sonoma, CA – Fresh off one of her most impressive race day performances of the season, DeJoria wrapped up her Seattle outing by winning 
back-to-back rounds on holeshots to reach the semifinals for the fourth time in 2025.
Alexia will compete in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge on Saturday. She is currently ranked eighth in the Funny Car point standings with three races remaining before the conclusion of the regular season’
“Our Bandero Café Funny Car team is coming off a good showing in Seattle, and I’m excited to get right back out there this weekend in Sonoma. It’s a great facility, good air, cool conditions, good track surface, and the fans are great. Just all around really enjoy racing there. We’d of course like continue our progression and success with going rounds and hopefully, acquire our very first Wally together as a team,” explained Alexis. Continue reading
Ida Zetterström Headed to Sonoma with the Maynard Family Top Fuel Dragster
Sonoma, CA – Zetterström makes her Sonoma Raceway debut this weekend. The Sonoma Nationals marks the second of four consecutive 
events where Zetterström will be at the controls of the JCM Top Fuel dragster.
The multi-time European champion is competing on a limited schedule due to insufficient funding and is actively seeking partners for 2025 and beyond.
“Seattle was a surprise schedule addition for us and while we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, it was a great opportunity to collect data and try some new stuff. We feel like we learned a lot and we hope we will be able to apply it in Sonoma, and it will show, performance-wise, what we learned,” explained Ida.
“This is a very busy week for us with tons of media and appearances lined up, including doing a media tour in San Francisco before we kick off the weekend. We also have a lot of sponsors in the house and it’ll be a busy week for JCM, which is something we love. This will be my first time racing at Sonoma and it’s one of the tracks that I’ve been looking forward to going to all year. We’re hoping for some cooler weather and some faster times, and we hope we can break our current E.T. record and go some rounds on Sunday.” Continue reading
Ida Zetterström Leaves Seattle Grateful and Focused as Her NHRA Journey Continues
Kent, WA – 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. Continue reading
Alexis DeJoria Races to Fourth Semifinal of 2025 at NHRA Northwest Nationals
KENT, WA – 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. Continue reading
Bandero Café Funny Car Team Ready for Victory in Seattle
Kent, WA – Alexia has three semifinal appearances in the first 10 events and is currently occupying the No. 11 position in the Funny Car 
standings with four races remaining before playoff positions are locked.
She won the 2011 NHRA Northwest Nationals while competing in the Top Alcohol Funny Car category Including her Sportsman wins, DeJoria is an eight-time NHRA winner overall (1 Super Comp, 1 Top Alcohol Funny Car, 6 Funny Car)
Alexis explained the teams excitement as the move into the last few events of the regular season. “We have made great strides so far throughout the first half of the season, and yes, we had a short race day at these last few events, but we are not deterred. Building a competitive team and getting everything dialed in takes time. Our team is still relatively brand-new; we’re barely seven months into it, and I know we are strong and there is so much left on the table. Continue reading
