NHRA newbie Ida Zetterström was named ‘Best New Talent’ by NHRA’s National Dragster publication at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis, it was announced on Thursday, December 12.
The 2023 FIA European Top Fuel champion hailing from Sweden launched her NHRA career at the 2024 Brainerd Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. where she captured her first round-win at her debut event on U.S. soil by defeating a multi-time world champion on a holeshot to advance to the semifinals. Zetterström then went on to qualify for each of the remaining seven events on the NHRA Mission Foods Series schedule as she pursued NHRA’s Rookie of the Year award. Despite only running a campaign of eight races out of the 20-event season, Zetterström’s dedication, steadfast work ethic, and passion for the sport were evident and earned the attention of NHRA’s fanbase who selected Zetterström for the Best New Talent award.
“We were really gunning hard for NHRA’s Rookie of the Year honors, and although we were disappointed not to have won that award, it wasn’t quite a huge shock to us as we only competed in eight races while the majority of the contenders raced a full season, so we started with the deck stacked against us,” explained Zetterström, driver of the JCM Racing VP Racing Fuels/Edelbrock/COMP Cams/Dodge Top Fuel dragster. “So, to win this title, Best New Talent, it is especially gratifying because this one was strictly voted on by the fans, and at the end of the day, the fans are what drives this sport. They’re the reason we’re all out here, racing for trophies and doing what we love.”
Zetterström out-earned fellow NHRA Rookie of the Year contenders Richard Gadson, Jasmine Salinas, 2024 Road to the Future award winner Tony Stewart, and Daniel Wilkerson in the voting process.
“Like so much of what we do out here, I truly consider this award to be a team effort,” added Zetterström, who relocated from Europe to the Indianapolis area in January to be close to the JCM Racing shop in Brownsburg. “I talked in my interview when I received the award about the relentless work that went into building this team and putting this operation together in order to be on the track by August, and how long this has been a great dream of mine to come over to NHRA and race, and how hard (crew chief) Jon Schaffer has worked to build up this team, and for Joe Maynard to make the decision to trust me to come drive his second race car. There was so much that went into us being able to run a rookie campaign this season, and it’s nice to know that all of that hard work did not go unnoticed.
“I ended the season feeling like we might not have had enough time to show what we can do and what we’re capable of but seeing that the fans caught on and saw us on track and thought that we made an impression really does mean a lot to me and our whole team. I can’t wait for even greater things in 2025 and am looking forward to securing the necessary funding required to compete in a full season.”
This story was originally published on December 14, 2024. 
