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.
“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
