BY KELLY WADE PHOTOGRAPH BY RICK BELDEN

WEDISH-BORN Ida Zetterström has called Finland home for many years , but her residence in Indianapolis makes it very clear that she ’ s quite serious about racing long term on U . S . soil . Zetterström , the 2023 European FIA Top Fuel champion , has partnered with Joe Maynard and his JCM Racing team to make her debut alongside teammate Tony Schumacher at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd this season .

“ I ’ ve been working toward the goal of racing NHRA Top Fuel for many years ,” says Zetterström , who started racing a Jr . Dragster at the age of eight and went on to race Super Comp , then transitioned into a two-motorcycle Super Street Bike team with boyfriend Kim Hilander . Zetterström won the Scandinavian Super Street Bike championship in 2019 .

By the end of 2020 , the ambitious young racer knew she needed to shift her main focus back to her biggest goal and licensed in Top Fuel , and through a fortunate opportunity to race with Rune Fjeld Motorsport , Zetterström ’ s dreams began to really take shape . With the RF Motorsport team , she set multiple FIA records and won races in impressive fashion on the way to the series title . The next step for Zetterström was racing NHRA Top Fuel , and a chance meeting with Maynard set the ball rolling .

“ I was in the USA at an NHRA race last year to meet with some sponsors and [ make ] some potential connections for the future , and I was introduced to Joe Maynard through our mutual friend , Mike Salinas ,” explains Zetterström . “ Me and Joe got to talking and quickly realized we had a very similar vision on the business side of racing with sponsors , partnerships , marketing , and great teams .”

The two agreed to follow up on their conversation after the event . One conversation turned into a stack of others and , eventually , the expansion of JCM Racing to include Zetterström as a second Top Fuel driver alongside Schumacher , an eight-time world champion and the most winning Top Fuel driver in history .

“ JCM Racing was not looking for a second driver at the time , so for Joe to make the decision to bring a second team out with me in the driver seat was a huge deal ,” says Zetterström . “ I have worked so hard to reach this point , and I have had some offers from other teams , but I hadn ’ t yet felt like I ’ d found the 100 % right fit . It was a little surprising the way it came about and that the team created this opportunity around me , but it just felt completely right . I knew very early when talking to Joe that this was a team and a program I wanted to be part of . I feel like we have so much to offer the sport and our partners .”

Zetterström ’ s move to Indianapolis has allowed her to get comfortable with her team and follow the full NHRA tour , getting a feel for the flow of a top-tier NHRA team , representing her team ’ s partners , and making new connections along the way .

“ When I moved over to Indianapolis in February , my team was already hard at work with everything from my car to trailers and parts ,” continues Zetterström . “ Building a whole new team takes time , and we ’ re still receiving shipments of parts , tools , and more , but it ’ s very exciting to see it all coming together , week by week . My crew chief , Jon Schaffer , has been pulling double-duty on Tony ’ s car and building my program at the same time , but now he has stepped over to focus 100 % on finalizing everything on my team before we hit the track in Brainerd .

“ I expect challenges , and there will be hurdles to overcome , but I try not to predict them too much before they happen . Honestly , I will have some cobwebs to blow off when I get out there , and we won ’ t have [ 12 ] events worth of data that everyone else has . But I know I ’ m hungrier than ever to go out there and show what I can do . I have so much trust in my team and my crew chief that I ’ m not too worried about it , and I think we have every chance to come out here and shake things up . I ’ m here to chase championships , simple as that . This is not an easy task and something that will take time , but I want to see myself in this sport for many years . I feel like with a great team and great partners , we ’ ll be able to accomplish that . I can ’ t wait to get started .” DI

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