Rookie of the Year contender Ida Zetterström battled through a loaded 19-car field at the Nevada Nationals to secure a spot on the Top Fuel eliminations ladder at the second-to-last race of the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. She was ready to add more win lights to her NHRA tally but a first-round loss to the reigning category champ ended her chance at making a run for the Las Vegas hardware.
Zetterström opened the weekend with two tire-smoking attempts on Friday, placing her on the outside looking in of the 16-car field. When the 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion returned to the starting line for the third qualifying session on Saturday, she took her JCM/VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel dragster straight down the groove in 3.786 seconds at 324.12 mph to place her in the provisional No. 13 position. She recorded another good pass in the fourth and final qualifying round, settling into 14th to start race day.
Against Kalitta, Zetterström moved first but was up in smoke shortly after leaving the starting line. She pedaled but her machine lost traction once again while Kalitta recorded a 3.861 E.T. in the opposite lane to advance. It was the first time the two drag racing champions had faced each other in competition and continued the trend of Zetterström squaring off against current or former Top Fuel world champions on race day. Since making her NHRA debut at the Brainerd, Minnesota event in August, all but one of Zetterström’s race day match-ups have been against a series champion.
“Tough first-round loss,” said Zetterström following her seventh NHRA appearance. “I left the line first, tried to pedal it but it didn’t want to recover so I had to lift. It’s always hard when you’re just coasting and you see your opponent cross the finish line. Obviously, Doug Kalitta and that team, they’re the reigning champions for a reason. They’re a hard team to beat but we definitely rolled up ready to put up a fight and just came up short this time. One more race to go but first we’ve got SEMA. It’ll be great to spend some more time with our partners and our fans and then it’s back to Indy to regroup and get ready to finish the year strong in Pomona.”
Zetterström will close out her rookie season at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., Nov. 15-17.
This story was originally published on November 4, 2024. 
