August 13, 2025 • 34 mins
Ida Zetterstrom finally had her dream come true this time a year ago when she made her NHRA Top Fuel debut. She returns to the podcast to discuss what it has been like since; the struggle watching racing go on without her; being at the track for her teammate Alexis DeJoria; working through the emotions of being out of the car; doing work for NHRA.TV this year and getting comfortable in the role; the many media and public opportunities Zetterstrom has embraced outside the car; becoming integrated in the NHRA community; the outlook for the end of the year, and hope for 2026.
Original music created by Tony Monge.
Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall
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Original music created by Tony Monge.
Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall
PRE-ORDER: NASCAR Race Day Eats https://insighteditions.com/products/nascar-race-day-eats
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hey, everyone, Welcome to the Racing Writers Podcast. I'm your
host Kelly crandall. Our guest today is Da Zetterstrum. She
is back on the podcast. She has chatted with us
before as she made the move from Europe to the
United States to compete in NHA Top Fuel competition. This
weekend now marks one year since her debut, which was
at Brainer, so she is celebrating making the media rounds
(00:27):
and really embracing what a year it has been. Now.
Ida is not full time on the circuit, but she
has been competing. The hope is to be full time
if she can get some funding. You're gonna hear that
in our conversation, but we're gonna do some reflecting on
what a year it has been, where she's at right now,
as well as how she is keeping herself in front
of people irelevant when she's not in the race car
by doing any media opportunities she can, working on the
(00:49):
media side with NHA dot TV, speaking engagements, being an
ambassador for the sport, making different public appearances, and again
just really making sure that folks know she is here.
She is serious about this and she plans to be
here for a very long time. It's a great conversation.
Ida is someone that I always enjoy catching up with.
She has a great personality and she can be a
(01:10):
superstar if given the chance to compete a lot more
than she is. So hopefully that happens one day. But
in the meantime, we're gonna see how it's going right
now as we check in and celebrate since it's been
one year since her anniversary, and she's going to be
back on track this weekend as well. So here is
Ida Zetterstrom on the Racing Writers Podcast. Okay, Ida is
(01:34):
back on the podcast. I'm really excited about this because
we've talked a couple times and your journey has been fascinating.
Your adjustment to America has been fascinating. So now though,
we get to talk about one year later of being
in the car right like this big one anniversary. So
I guess, first off, what's the emotions and feelings now
a year later, you've been in the car, you've been
(01:56):
putting the time in, you're racing on tour.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Oh, well, well it's mixed. I mean, obviously it's a
year since my start, but it's not a full year
of racing, and that is a lot of people when
they hear it's a year, they're like, wow, I haven't.
I didn't realize you raised a full season. I'm like, well,
hold up a little bit. It hasn't been a full season,
but it's been a full calendar year. So to say,
since I got into the car. BRAINERD brings back a
(02:19):
lot of memories, Like I debuted in brainer last year
and it's coming up on a year. So we had
great success, you know, going into it. We had a
semifinal finish on the first race, a big hole shot,
win first round, get to come out there with the team.
I was totally blown away by all the fans there
and you know, all the support I got. It was
(02:40):
such a you know, it was a dream come true.
We know that, like I've been working for years to
make this dream of reality, but like my debut really
was a dream come true. And since then, there's obviously
been a lot of ups and downs. Drag Racing is
not easy. I mean, I knew that I've been in
drag racing in twenty three years, so that wasn't news
to me. It's just when you work for a long
time to get to second point. When I raced and
(03:02):
I won a Championship in twenty twenty three. That's the
most flawless year I've ever had in racing. We only
lost one round. We had such a fantastic teamwork and
it was, you know, everything is clicked. It was like
all the stars aligned and it almost feels like you
know you couldn't do anything wrong. You just knew when
you started off the car, I fiers do whatever I
supposed to do and I don't screw this up, like
(03:22):
we should be able to win. Like it was a
fantastic feeling, and it's been something you know, you chasee
that for all your years in racing, but then you
also know that even if I would have still stayed
in Europe, those things don't happen years on years and end.
Like it goes up and down, and there's a lot
of that, and that's obviously something we've seen here too,
and it's been both on and off the track. I
(03:43):
mean on the track, our performance have gone a little
up and down. We have been struggling on Sundays. Many
of the drivers out here, I mean the world champions
that have raced for many years, they will tell you
that top fuel has never been harder and if that's
not true, then I don't know what it is because
no matter who I line up with on Sunday, it's
(04:03):
I think since I started first round, I have only
lined up with multi time world champions or world champions
except for one racer, and that racer is Justin Ashley,
and I mean he's the best leader in the class
and everybody fears him. So it's, you know, it's it
says a lot about the sport and the class and
how hard it is. So when we do get round
(04:25):
wins on Sunday, we don't take him for granted, but
we want to see more of them. Obviously we don't
even though we're kind of a low budget team and
we don't race the full schedule. We don't come out
there to just run a couple of the qualifying runs
and see what we can do on Sunday and you know,
hope that someone else spits the tires. Like we are
looking for, you know, qualifying in the top half. We
(04:48):
are looking for round wins on Sunday and we want
to pick up Wallace. So we have a really high
level of confidence in our team and work that it
goes into it and our flying guy because we don't
have a full time crew, but the fine guys to
come in, they all say that we don't come in
and if we don't think there's a chance to win,
we don't work with teams, so we don't think that
the driver can get the job done and the crew
(05:10):
chief can get the car down track. So that says
a lot, you know, obviously about what we're trying to
do and the guys that we have around us. But yeah,
it's been definitely a lot of kind of ups and
downs and me getting to I've been practicing patients a lot,
and that is not something that I am terribly good at,
but I'm definitely learning to get better. And Greg rating
(05:32):
humbles you like you can go from being low the
session and feeling that you're doing great and then you
spend the tires the next one or you lose first round,
like it is a very humbling sport. And we are
on the growing face of us of our journey to say,
and the other part has obviously been outside of the track.
We're trying to find sponsors and being able to be
(05:53):
out here full time. We run a part time schedule
this year with about half the races were we're plying
on ten, but we're going to do twelve, but trying
to find the right partners to be out here long term.
I did not plan to move my whole life to
America surround a year or two. I plan to be
here for many years and chase many championships, and then
we need great partners around you to be able to
(06:14):
do that.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah, that's an excellent way of kind of summing up
where you are right now when you talk about obviously
it's not easy, all the ups and downs you've had
on and off, on and off the racetrack and practicing patients.
That leads me to something I always think about with
race car drivers, and particularly in NASCAR, but I think
it applies to anybody. How is it when you're watching
(06:37):
other people race and you're not racing? Because again, I
know with NASCAR drivers they always talk about how it
is such a hard feeling when someone else is driving
their race car if they're sick or suspended or whatever
it may be. For you who can race, you're not
physically incapable, it's just it's just the funding. So what
is it like for you watching other people race with
(07:00):
help you?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Oh, it is incredibly hard and just like you say,
it was different years back when I came over here
and I didn't have a ride, I didn't have a
way to get here. I can kind of enjoy watching
racing another way, just because I knew that there wasn't
a chance for me to jump into a car if
we say like that. But right now, when I know that,
I know that we should be out here full time.
We got the things for it, we got the right
(07:23):
people around us. It's just the money missing. It is
incredibly tough and one of the reasons I took my
other work this year. I mean, I'll be working with
n Trade dot TV to do announcing, and one of
the main reasons I said yes to that was obviously
to learn more. English is my second language. Any interview
I can do and you talk about the sport, it
helps me, you know, grow as a person and as
(07:44):
as a driver on the other side of a mic
as well. But I wanna I want to do something
out here where I feel useful. I feel like I'm
contributing to the sport and I do something with my
time at the track. Because just being a Lexus supporter,
I love my teammate Alexis. She's great and I'll support
the hell her, but I don't want to sit for
a whole weekend and just share her own like I
(08:07):
am not that great of a cheerleader. I want to
do something more so being able to work with entry
and actually have a purpose when I go to the
racetrack and a not in the car that helped tremendously
because I don't feel like I'm coming there and I'm
just a guest. I don't feel like I'm just sitting
in hospitality and the only thing I'm doing is, you know,
entertaining our sponsors. I do feel like when I get there,
(08:27):
I have a job to do. I get a purpose
when I'm there, and I am there to work towards
being on the other side of the mic Citi say,
and in the driver's seat. And I know, for example,
when I went to Chicago and I did my first
first gig on the MIC with Anitre, I was surprised
about how good I felt that weekend not being in
(08:47):
the car, not because of the reason I didn't want
to be, like I didn't want I really wanted to
be in the car, but I felt again that I
had a purpose when I was there, and that I
was working towards something for my own future, when I
at least put more fet it in my cap and
learn more stuff. But then when the finals came around
and the drivers came in and they were handled the trophy,
I felt like a dut punch And I couldn't really
(09:09):
tell why. I just feel like I want to be there,
like that's where I want to be, so you're true qualifying.
I interviewed them, I did all that. I learned a lot,
and it was a busy weeked it was somewhat manageable,
but when we came to the part where someone else
raced for the for the final, stood on the podium
and you kind of have to talk to someone about it,
(09:30):
like I wanted to cry. I'm like I wanted a
shot of that. I wanted to do that, and it's
it's a hard feeling and I didn't know it was
going to hit me that hard when I stood there,
because normally when I watched a final down by the
starting line, I have never been in top end. For
someone else to win a final and come out of
the car and you see their emotion and you know
(09:50):
it's pouring over and you can relate so much to
it because you know that feeling. Obviously I haven't won
an Nentrey, but I wont in other serieses. And when
you get to top end and you know you want
and that emotion that rushes over you and the celebration
with your team and everything, when you get to see
that firsthand in the you know, up the top end
and you know that you want to be there and
(10:11):
that's everything you're working for. I think other people around
could see my face because I had a few people
working there that said you'll get there too, like you
will be there one day, and I was like, what's that?
Obviously I was like, you know, really struggling when I've
been there. Right, Yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Hit on two things I wanted to bring up about that,
which is, because you are at the racetrack still even
when you're not racing, and you said it, staying busy
and having other things that you're doing, particularly the media side,
has to help. And also, as you said, with Alexis,
being your teammate who is running, Yeah, does that make
it harder because you are right there, you're in the pits,
(10:49):
you're with the team, and you watch your teammate get
to do it and you can't yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Absolutely. Plus the fact that when I'm there and I'm
doing all of that and my teammate is racing and
I'm working on the media side, I'm doing my autograph signing,
is taking care of the sponsors, and I'm working with
enter a Dot TV, I'm missing my team because my
team is not there. So that's also very strange that
sometimes I'm talking with my team about something that happened,
for example, in Chicago, and then I realized, God, you
(11:15):
guys weren't there, because like I was at the track,
but I wasn't racing, And it's just a strange feeling.
Like we do everything together. I mean, I'm right now
in my race trailer, sitting here doing this interview, and
right outside, you know, the guys started working on a car,
and I'm here every day, like we worked together all
the time, and we work towards the same goal of
winning out here. And when I packed my bags and
(11:35):
I go out there to work and they're not coming
with me, that's also a strange feeling because it kind
of feels like the big part of our whole purpose
is missing, if that makes sense. So it is hard,
and I mean, I've been incredibly happy to see Alexis
this year getting into the new role in her car
and sharing them on and being there for them, and
(11:57):
it's been a lot of fun to learn more with
the with Entray Dot TV and working on announcing side.
That's not an easy gig. I mean, I shoot props
to them, but just good at that. I'm still feeling
like I'm struggling every time I get on, but hopefully
I'm getting better and better. But man, it is so tough,
Like you just want to feel like you're talking about
you know, when I'm sitting there announcing, I'm talking about
(12:19):
the people that I race with, like about my competition,
and I'm talking about you know, they're big runs and
they're ah, it's such a great condition. That's so hard
when you're standing up there and you look at the
data of how good the track is right now, how
good the air is, and you're saying this could be
record runs, and you're like, man, I want to be
in a car. I want to be there. I want
to shot at the record runs like I want to.
(12:39):
You know, that is really hard. And same thing on
race Ay when I'm announcing on Race Ay and we're
getting ready for first round, you know national anthem roles around.
I get the same kind of nervousness in my stomach
and almost need to tell myself, you're not running. You
don't got to be nervous, you know, like they're doing that.
Today's tough, but it's hard to stop. Like it's I
(13:02):
you really feel that passion burning so strong when you're
on the outside. And I definitely don't want to be
on the outside. But I can say if someone that
has been racing for many, many years and they're in
their car and they're not sure if they love it anymore,
get out and try and be in the announcer's boots
or top end or whatever and see how you feel.
Is if you feel this way, you would get back
(13:23):
in a car as soon as you can. If you
don't feel this way, I don't know, maybe maybe keep
doing announcing. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Has that surprised you or did you expect it to
feel like that? What you just said about how hard
it's been, but yet how nervous you still get, how
much it still means even when you're not in the car.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yes, and no, I mean I didn't know I was
gonna feel nervous on a Sunday when I stood there
talking announces food. Because honestly, last year, when I was
outside for the majority of the season before I actually
get to race, I was also on all of those races.
I was doing the fuel and I was doing you know,
shoots and helped out and so on with my teammates.
But I still didn't feel as nervous, you know, on
(14:06):
a Sunday, I feel like, and then I do right now.
But I'm also not sure if it's because I really
got a taste for it now. Obviously I've always raised,
but now when I have raised here and I'm more
of a well known name in it, right, I feel
like we should be there, so to say. Plus, last year,
when I was outside for all those races, I could
always think just a little more, like just wait a
(14:27):
little longer. It's your term, Like we're gonna get back
to the shop and we're gonna keep working on my
stuff and we're gonna get it ready and soon we're
gonna debut. So like you always had that kind of
date that you had circled around and you count the
days down and that made it easier. That's different now
if I knew, for example, that it's only part time
this year, but I know it's gonna be full time
for next year and several years ahead. I think I
(14:50):
would be a little more at peace with it because
I can have that big number saying when Gamesville rolls
around twenty twenty six on full time, you know, and
that makes it easier because you know it's coming. But
right now when we're still working to secure those sponsors
and we don't really know yet if we are going
to be able to race full time next year or
(15:11):
what it's even gonna look like, and it makes it
so much harder because you don't have that specific time
where you know that that's when it's going to happen.
It's so unknown, and I think it's the unknown that
makes it harder, and you know, makes it feel so
much stronger.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Maybe the nhr A TV stuff you've been doing, which
I've loved, by the way, I do watch from afar right,
so it's fun to see you in that role. For you,
what is an aspect of it that's comfortable for you
eto when you do it and what's the most uncomfortable
about getting getting into that role this year?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Oh, that's a great question, er.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I kind of still feel like most of it is
kind of uncomfortable. The most comfortable conversations goes on when
Mike is not on and I'm talking with the drivers
when they get out of the car. You know, before
you start an interview, because then you can always is
you know, you can bullshit with each other, and you
can also say hey, how did that feel?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Or like hey, I saw I saw you peddle that,
like how did it feel? Or whatever. You can. You
can talk about inside stuff another way where it's no pressure.
But as soon as you're supposed to do your interview,
I'm always nervous because English is not my first language.
That makes me nervous because I'm afraid I'm gonna say
something wrong or that I'm not gonna find a word.
And when it does happen, other people usually don't notice,
(16:24):
but in my mind it feels like they're waiting for
for a long time before I can get that word out.
So that's a little hard, but top end is really fun.
It is hard because you gotta you know, obviously, ask
the right questions, but you get to see the realms before,
so you know what this person ran, you know how
it stood up to everybody else. And you know where
they're currently qualified or whatever happens, you can watch a
(16:47):
rerun up before you actually speak to them. But when
you're in the boot, it's so much harder because you
gotta talk as it happens. And that's that scares me,
just because when you do that, you're so afraid you
gotta either miss something, say something wrong, or accidentally pits
someone off. That's usually like new things that are really hard.
I like to explain what happens when you see the
(17:08):
round we do the slow molds, and you like to
do that, but I'm also terrified about it because it
depends on which track and where the cameras are lined up,
because sometimes you see very clearly. I remember some of
the first races I did, we were sitting right behind it,
so I could see the cars go down track. You
could see if the tires were shaking. You could see
if it started to spin, if you put a hole out,
So when you were explaining, you could say that, like
(17:30):
you can see on the screen that you get a
hole out. The reason you get a hole I was
probably because it was spinning for a while before that.
You can see that from behind it. You could explain
what happened or whatever it might be. You could say, hey,
that was tire shaking. We see a slow wall of
the tire shaking. You can explain that. But on some
tracks you are placed in an angle where you can't
see You can see the cars, but you can't see
the tires. You can't see the marks it leaves on
(17:52):
the track. You might be too far away or too
far from the side. Sometimes the camera angle can be
more from the front, where you can't act you see
the tires working that well, so you might see a
hole go out, but you don't can't see if it's spinning.
And then makes me, you know, afraid to speak on
it because I don't want to say something and then
make it sound like that's the reason the car did
(18:13):
something or the driver did something. Well, that's not the
whole story, because I know that that's how you can
definitely say so off if you start saying something that
is not accurate. So those kinds of things is a
little hard. I'm actually found talking about the bikes has
been more fun than I thought, because obviously I come
from that bike background. I race bikes for many years,
and a lot of the drivers on the pros of
(18:34):
bike side or the riders. I know them like I've
either raced with them in the past in the class
that I raced, or you know, been in contact with
them true work or whatever it might be. So it's
been really fun because a lot of these announcers that
I work with, they don't really have any background on bikes.
So that's where I can kind of give insights that
they might not be used to or they might not know,
(18:55):
like why is this driver doing this in the start?
Why is this driver moving around like that? How does
it feel if this happens through dama or whatever it
might be. And yeah, that's been actually really fun. And
I think I've opened some people's eyes that didn't know
I raced bikes before that all of a sudden come
by and say, wow, I didn't know you. I didn't
know you knew any of my bikes. So it's been
(19:16):
a little fun. I feel like sometimes not all the time,
but sometimes the bike class gets a little less attention
than they should and maybe I can be able to
bring something in there that makes people more people, you know,
be interested in it. If you were a great you know,
nitro fan and you get to hear some cool stuff
about the bikes. You might think it's even more fun
to check them out because they're really about us.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
I think it's admirable how busy you have stayed, as
we're talking about, and also the different opportunities that you've had,
because I saw you at Bristol for the NASCAR race.
You came and joined us for there, you know, the
NHATV stuff we just talked about. I really enjoyed you
and Leah on Sarah Spain's podcast a couple of weeks ago.
I know you've done some guests speak and gone at
(20:00):
different events. Could you have imagined Itta that you'd even
have opportunities like this. I mean, granted, you want to
be racing, but you're also in a position to where
you are still very visible and relevant when you're not
in the car.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, I mean I have. Even when I raced over
in Europe, I tried to do as much as I could.
I mean, I jumped on every opportunity to do a
good podcast or whatever it might be. I had a
little podcast studio set up in my office because a
lot of times you did it was a live show
and it started, you know, in the afternoon in America,
and I was over there, and I usually meant four
(20:35):
am my time, so I took a little nap on
the couch in my office in the garage, and then
I went up and I do the podcast, and I
took another nap before I had to get up and
start for worksday. So I've obviously been trying to do
as much as possible, but it hasn't been anywhere close
to what it's been over here in America obviously. Last year,
I was also so incredibly busy because I worked so
heavily with Dodge Europe. So I traveled back six or
(20:58):
seven times to Europe to create content with them. We
were filming the YouTube series Dodge In and Out that
they have on their YouTube series, and we did that
on different events through Europe. So there was a lot
of traveling back and forth for me, a lot of
doing that. This year, I have had even more opportunities.
Like you mentioned, I've been able to go to my
(21:19):
first VERNASCAR race, which was very cool. I actually went
to my first IndyCar race put into five hundred as well,
and then went to New York to speak on the
Business of Women's Sports Summit, which was huge. And you know,
you've done a lot of that, and I'm very happy
that I've been able to get requests to do a
lot of these things because I love doing it, like
(21:40):
I really do talking about the sport. I mean, you
know me, you can barely get me to shut up
because I keep talking about the sport a lot. But
it's something I'm really really passionate about. Obviously, it kind
of means even more when I'm not raising full time,
because I know it's very important for me to be
out here and you know, represent our sponsors and find
new partners and talk to new companies and do all
(22:02):
these networking. And I definitely don't, you know, I don't.
I'll to say I don't. I can't find English words
for this. But it's not something that I, you know,
forget or like, it's not something that I take for granted.
Maybe I definitely see the value in all that, And yeah,
(22:24):
it's it's fun. I didn't I didn't know it was
going to be this much when I'm not in the seat.
I definitely didn't know it's going to be asked to
do the editor dot TV stuff like that. Was that
was brand new for me. So there's a lot of
new opportunities kind of popped up that I didn't have
any knowledge about when I moved here. The fact that
any tra have been able to partner with the Blue
Sports and do so much for trying to find more
(22:48):
sponsorship women in drag racing. That has been fantastic. And
a lot of the things that that have brought with
this have been incredibly fun but also not expected. Definitely
not so it's been cool.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
All right, Two more questions for you. So again it's
we're coming up on one year of you being in
the car, but you've been here, You've been on the
circuit now for over a year and have been meshed
in NHA drag racing and meshed in the community. I'm
curious what your kind of takeaways or what stands out
about the NHA life and community. I'm sure because when
(23:25):
you came over here and you knew that this was
going to be your future, you probably had a lot
of thoughts or expectations built up in your mind. So
what has stood out about the competition or the fans
or just again the community, the pits, just everything of
being here now that you are in it.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Yeah, Oh, it's a great question. And so drag racing
in Europe. That I mean, I've been in the industry
for so long. It's same but different, like the fans
we have basically defense really feel the same. We have
great fans in Europe. I mean we do pack the
stands in Europe. We can have between thirty and sixty
(24:04):
thousand people in a weekend, which is kind of like
an entry event, and they're very loyal, you know, very
great fans. So that feeling of being at the track
and having those fans up close and you know, open it,
it has felt very at home. Honestly. I always had
hospitality in Europe that we worked heavily with, but over
here it's bigger. You know, most of the teams they
(24:26):
have bigger hospitalities and so on. For me, back at home,
I was very fortunate that a lot of times we
ran on hospitality. My mom and dad helped me and
we had friends that call help me, and you know,
it was me doing this, you know, setup for all that,
like the planning for it, and then I had my
family helped me out. So obviously all that is very
different over here. The way. Something that's different for me
(24:47):
is also that we always stayed at the track, like
throughout my whole career. It wasn't until I raised the
last couple of years in Top Few and we raised
some of the races that we stayed at the hotel.
Most of the time we have stayed after racetrack in
our race bus. So that was a big adjustment for
me to go from when you're done at the racetrack,
which normally was around midnight back at home. You you know,
(25:10):
the guys usually had a bear. We sat there, talked
about the day, we planned the next day, and then
we went to bed and then walk up in the morning.
We made breakfast together. You know, everybody sat there, we
had a coffee. You get really close because it really
feels like you're from a you know, family camping trip
every time basically you go there and also used to
really being at the track. Same time. If you have downtime,
let's say it's raining or there's ather layer or whatever,
(25:32):
you can go into your own bus. You can sit there,
you can work, you can do you know, whatever you
need to do, even take an ap if it's been
a lot, you know. So that's definitely been an adjustment
for me to not stay at the track and have
to kind of you know, go to a hotel all
the time or so on. But I'm getting kind of
used to it. And then another thing that that is
(25:54):
the biggest difference for me is in Europe when it
comes to your own marketing and kind of getting your
name out there, your brand and doing all that, it's
basically it's all on you. Like I I've always done
my own social media. I still do. JACM was able
to hire a great girl this year to help us
get content, and she runs the JCM racing pages and
(26:15):
she's the one that feeds me with all the great
photos and all the great videos. But I'm the one
that edits and posts and talk to all my fans
and do everything on my page, which I take a
lot of pride in. But it's not just that. Like
over here and a Trade does such a great job
with both any trade of TV the Fox you know show,
and also with with everything they do for like you
(26:39):
know media days, different pr things, social media, everything we
didn't have that. We didn't have, you know, a sanctioning
body that actually had a Facebook or Instagram page that
they posted the drivers, so that they promoted the drivers.
We had a live stream on some places, but the
live stream was usually We had great announcers, and we
had cameras to show the car go down tracks, but
(27:00):
you actually never get to see the face of the driver,
who usually didn't have a that's also different. I'm not
used to having a camera in my face and I
get your top end. There's no cameras in the top
end in Europe. Like, that's just me if I want to,
you know, do whatever over there. You hell, most drivers,
if it's top they take their shirt off and change
your t shirt. You don't do that over here, you know.
So there's a lot of things that is different over here.
(27:24):
Another thing, obviously I haven't won over here yet. I
haven't been to explain that that way. But in Europe,
when you win, there's not a wind light that shows
you that you want. There's no one in top end
that has your timeplasts and tells you that you want.
You have to wait for your team to tell you
that you want. So the time you're standing there, which
can be a couple of minutes, and it's usually two
drivers and sometimes you know. Sometimes you know because you
(27:46):
see the other car, but you don't always know. So
if it was a tight race, you're standing there and
both are waiting to see what happens your your crew
is coming there, and if they're haunting their horn and
they're hanging out of the windows screaming, you know you
want and you get to celebrate with them like at
that moment. And that is something that that is very
different over here obviously, and something that I think you
(28:08):
might if if you experience that in Europe. It's actually
you do really get to celebrate, which the team A
lot of driver says I wish I got to celebrate
with my team, only one on the start line. In
Europe you kind of do because they're the ones that
that you know, give you the news and get to celebrate,
which is so Yeah, to make a very long story short,
like there's a lot of similarities, a lot of changes,
(28:30):
but I want to say that what Entry does to
promote the sport and to promote their drivers is something
that is very different from what we have over there.
And for building your brand and you know, staying out
here and having a face out here, that is it's crucial,
like you need that you can't just rely on the
driver to do the whole job themselves. So I think
(28:54):
it's a combo and it's a great combore.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah, all right, So to wrap up our conversation because
I know we're up on our time here, I'm curious.
We've got Brainerd and the US Nationals I believe are next.
Those are the next two events. What does the rest
of this year look like for you in terms of
when are you going to be behind the wheel? And
then I you know, I don't know if you have
anything yet ready to announce for twenty twenty six, but like,
what are the hopes obviously in plans for that.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, nothing to announce for twenty twenty six. We're obviously
working super hard on making twenty twenty six a full season,
Like that is the goal, Like a full season for
US in twenty twenty six and beyond, like that is
what we want to announce. Can't announce it yet, but
I really hope that we will at some points this year.
That is what we're working towards. When it comes to
this year, Brainerd and India are the next two coming up,
(29:38):
and often that the only two that are for sure
right now is Dallas and and those were on our schedule.
We originally had Maple Grove on our schedule, but we
had to kind of trade it for BRAINERD. We need
that time before going into India, which is the race,
the biggest race of our year, and you know, have
that kind of time to to make more like before
(30:00):
we get into Indy, we really hope we're going to
be able to add Maple Grow and hopefully also Vegas,
But as it looks right now, that is not something
that I can say for sure, but if I, if
I could pick out what would be able to do
those two as well. So that's how it looks right now,
and we're trying to make the most of it from
the times we're going out and then hopefully, like I said,
(30:22):
next year will be full season.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Yeah, well hopefully it will be. And I know you
want to be behind the wheel. But again, I think
it's admirable that people are still able to see you.
You are still out there. You are doing everything you
can to make sure people know I am here, I
am here, and I have things going on. So I
do think that's awesome. But you know, I always appreciate
talking to you. Again, I think what you're doing is fantastic,
(30:44):
and hopefully you'll be back behind the wheel a lot
more than what you have been. But in the meantime,
thanks for giving me some time and just adding to
your stack of.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Things you're doing. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
And I will be announcing on all the races that
I don't write, so I'll be at the track no
matter what, so that's a given at least. But yeah,
I wish we could add more races this year, but
in all honesty, next year and the years beyond is
more important for us because obviously, as it is right now,
we can't chase a championship. We're not in the Hans
(31:15):
since we're not running a full SISA. I want to
race as much as possible, but to be able to
go whole seasons in the future is our biggest priority.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
It makes sense, it makes well. I appreciate it as always.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
One more time. I thank you to Ida for coming
on the podcast. Appreciate it very much. Wonderful personality, great talent.
She is the twenty twenty three European Top Fuel Champion,
which if you go back and find her previous appearance
on the podcast, you will hear her talk all about
This is just a catch up. She's back on track
this weekend. It's a big weekend for an NHA. They
returned the competition after a couple weeks off, so they
will be in brainerd ADA will be there along with
(31:59):
Alexis Joria. You heard her mention her teammate and all
of JCM racing, so she's not gonna be in the
broadcast boost she will be racing. That is great to see.
And I really do hope that she's gonna get funding
to keep doing this because you heard her say there
in the podcast. She didn't come here to do this
for one year or a couple months. She's here long term.
She wants to win races and win championships. And if
(32:19):
that car can and driver can keep being competitive in
that class, who we're gonna keep having some great races
in top field competitions. So DA, thank you once again
for coming on the podcast. My appreciation as well to
Jessica Hatcher for also coordinating, making sure we had this
on our calendars and putting this in front of me.
I don't get to cover as much NHA this year
as I would like to, but I appreciate Jessica popping
(32:43):
in my email and saying, hey, do you want to
chat with DA? And of course I do so appreciate
you both. If you enjoyed the conversation, please leave a
rating and review. You can also go to social media
and interact with me there. In the show notes of
this episode, go to the link tree page where you
will find all of my social media accounts from x to, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook,
LinkedIn all over the place. So thank you for clicking
and listening and all of your support on the podcast.
(33:06):
The Official NASCAR Cookbook, NASCAR Race Day Eats is coming soon.
We are getting ever closer to that October release date.
You will see that on my social media as well.
If you see me at the racetrack, ask for a
bookmark as a QR code you can pre order, or
you can go online and pre order and have it
at your door when it comes out in late October.
So that's the Official NASCAR Cookbook, NASCAR Race Day Eats
(33:27):
for all of your tailgating and partings. Oh there's some
really great stuff in there, so I hope you will
check that out as well. And that is all for
this episode of the podcast. Appreciates you for clicking, listening, downloading.
I say it all the time because I truly do
mean it. Thank you for being a fan and being
in this little community that we have built. So thank you.
That's all for this week and I will see you
again real soon on The Racing Writer's podcast, thank
Hey, everyone, Welcome to the Racing Writers Podcast. I'm your
host Kelly crandall. Our guest today is Da Zetterstrum. She
is back on the podcast. She has chatted with us
before as she made the move from Europe to the
United States to compete in NHA Top Fuel competition. This
weekend now marks one year since her debut, which was
at Brainer, so she is celebrating making the media rounds
(00:27):
and really embracing what a year it has been. Now.
Ida is not full time on the circuit, but she
has been competing. The hope is to be full time
if she can get some funding. You're gonna hear that
in our conversation, but we're gonna do some reflecting on
what a year it has been, where she's at right now,
as well as how she is keeping herself in front
of people irelevant when she's not in the race car
by doing any media opportunities she can, working on the
(00:49):
media side with NHA dot TV, speaking engagements, being an
ambassador for the sport, making different public appearances, and again
just really making sure that folks know she is here.
She is serious about this and she plans to be
here for a very long time. It's a great conversation.
Ida is someone that I always enjoy catching up with.
She has a great personality and she can be a
(01:10):
superstar if given the chance to compete a lot more
than she is. So hopefully that happens one day. But
in the meantime, we're gonna see how it's going right
now as we check in and celebrate since it's been
one year since her anniversary, and she's going to be
back on track this weekend as well. So here is
Ida Zetterstrom on the Racing Writers Podcast. Okay, Ida is
(01:34):
back on the podcast. I'm really excited about this because
we've talked a couple times and your journey has been fascinating.
Your adjustment to America has been fascinating. So now though,
we get to talk about one year later of being
in the car right like this big one anniversary. So
I guess, first off, what's the emotions and feelings now
a year later, you've been in the car, you've been
(01:56):
putting the time in, you're racing on tour.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Oh, well, well it's mixed. I mean, obviously it's a
year since my start, but it's not a full year
of racing, and that is a lot of people when
they hear it's a year, they're like, wow, I haven't.
I didn't realize you raised a full season. I'm like, well,
hold up a little bit. It hasn't been a full season,
but it's been a full calendar year. So to say,
since I got into the car. BRAINERD brings back a
(02:19):
lot of memories, Like I debuted in brainer last year
and it's coming up on a year. So we had
great success, you know, going into it. We had a
semifinal finish on the first race, a big hole shot,
win first round, get to come out there with the team.
I was totally blown away by all the fans there
and you know, all the support I got. It was
(02:40):
such a you know, it was a dream come true.
We know that, like I've been working for years to
make this dream of reality, but like my debut really
was a dream come true. And since then, there's obviously
been a lot of ups and downs. Drag Racing is
not easy. I mean, I knew that I've been in
drag racing in twenty three years, so that wasn't news
to me. It's just when you work for a long
time to get to second point. When I raced and
(03:02):
I won a Championship in twenty twenty three. That's the
most flawless year I've ever had in racing. We only
lost one round. We had such a fantastic teamwork and
it was, you know, everything is clicked. It was like
all the stars aligned and it almost feels like you
know you couldn't do anything wrong. You just knew when
you started off the car, I fiers do whatever I
supposed to do and I don't screw this up, like
(03:22):
we should be able to win. Like it was a
fantastic feeling, and it's been something you know, you chasee
that for all your years in racing, but then you
also know that even if I would have still stayed
in Europe, those things don't happen years on years and end.
Like it goes up and down, and there's a lot
of that, and that's obviously something we've seen here too,
and it's been both on and off the track. I
(03:43):
mean on the track, our performance have gone a little
up and down. We have been struggling on Sundays. Many
of the drivers out here, I mean the world champions
that have raced for many years, they will tell you
that top fuel has never been harder and if that's
not true, then I don't know what it is because
no matter who I line up with on Sunday, it's
(04:03):
I think since I started first round, I have only
lined up with multi time world champions or world champions
except for one racer, and that racer is Justin Ashley,
and I mean he's the best leader in the class
and everybody fears him. So it's, you know, it's it
says a lot about the sport and the class and
how hard it is. So when we do get round
(04:25):
wins on Sunday, we don't take him for granted, but
we want to see more of them. Obviously we don't
even though we're kind of a low budget team and
we don't race the full schedule. We don't come out
there to just run a couple of the qualifying runs
and see what we can do on Sunday and you know,
hope that someone else spits the tires. Like we are
looking for, you know, qualifying in the top half. We
(04:48):
are looking for round wins on Sunday and we want
to pick up Wallace. So we have a really high
level of confidence in our team and work that it
goes into it and our flying guy because we don't
have a full time crew, but the fine guys to
come in, they all say that we don't come in
and if we don't think there's a chance to win,
we don't work with teams, so we don't think that
the driver can get the job done and the crew
(05:10):
chief can get the car down track. So that says
a lot, you know, obviously about what we're trying to
do and the guys that we have around us. But yeah,
it's been definitely a lot of kind of ups and
downs and me getting to I've been practicing patients a lot,
and that is not something that I am terribly good at,
but I'm definitely learning to get better. And Greg rating
(05:32):
humbles you like you can go from being low the
session and feeling that you're doing great and then you
spend the tires the next one or you lose first round,
like it is a very humbling sport. And we are
on the growing face of us of our journey to say,
and the other part has obviously been outside of the track.
We're trying to find sponsors and being able to be
(05:53):
out here full time. We run a part time schedule
this year with about half the races were we're plying
on ten, but we're going to do twelve, but trying
to find the right partners to be out here long term.
I did not plan to move my whole life to
America surround a year or two. I plan to be
here for many years and chase many championships, and then
we need great partners around you to be able to
(06:14):
do that.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah, that's an excellent way of kind of summing up
where you are right now when you talk about obviously
it's not easy, all the ups and downs you've had
on and off, on and off the racetrack and practicing patients.
That leads me to something I always think about with
race car drivers, and particularly in NASCAR, but I think
it applies to anybody. How is it when you're watching
(06:37):
other people race and you're not racing? Because again, I
know with NASCAR drivers they always talk about how it
is such a hard feeling when someone else is driving
their race car if they're sick or suspended or whatever
it may be. For you who can race, you're not
physically incapable, it's just it's just the funding. So what
is it like for you watching other people race with
(07:00):
help you?
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Oh, it is incredibly hard and just like you say,
it was different years back when I came over here
and I didn't have a ride, I didn't have a
way to get here. I can kind of enjoy watching
racing another way, just because I knew that there wasn't
a chance for me to jump into a car if
we say like that. But right now, when I know that,
I know that we should be out here full time.
We got the things for it, we got the right
(07:23):
people around us. It's just the money missing. It is
incredibly tough and one of the reasons I took my
other work this year. I mean, I'll be working with
n Trade dot TV to do announcing, and one of
the main reasons I said yes to that was obviously
to learn more. English is my second language. Any interview
I can do and you talk about the sport, it
helps me, you know, grow as a person and as
(07:44):
as a driver on the other side of a mic
as well. But I wanna I want to do something
out here where I feel useful. I feel like I'm
contributing to the sport and I do something with my
time at the track. Because just being a Lexus supporter,
I love my teammate Alexis. She's great and I'll support
the hell her, but I don't want to sit for
a whole weekend and just share her own like I
(08:07):
am not that great of a cheerleader. I want to
do something more so being able to work with entry
and actually have a purpose when I go to the
racetrack and a not in the car that helped tremendously
because I don't feel like I'm coming there and I'm
just a guest. I don't feel like I'm just sitting
in hospitality and the only thing I'm doing is, you know,
entertaining our sponsors. I do feel like when I get there,
(08:27):
I have a job to do. I get a purpose
when I'm there, and I am there to work towards
being on the other side of the mic Citi say,
and in the driver's seat. And I know, for example,
when I went to Chicago and I did my first
first gig on the MIC with Anitre, I was surprised
about how good I felt that weekend not being in
(08:47):
the car, not because of the reason I didn't want
to be, like I didn't want I really wanted to
be in the car, but I felt again that I
had a purpose when I was there, and that I
was working towards something for my own future, when I
at least put more fet it in my cap and
learn more stuff. But then when the finals came around
and the drivers came in and they were handled the trophy,
I felt like a dut punch And I couldn't really
(09:09):
tell why. I just feel like I want to be there,
like that's where I want to be, so you're true qualifying.
I interviewed them, I did all that. I learned a lot,
and it was a busy weeked it was somewhat manageable,
but when we came to the part where someone else
raced for the for the final, stood on the podium
and you kind of have to talk to someone about it,
(09:30):
like I wanted to cry. I'm like I wanted a
shot of that. I wanted to do that, and it's
it's a hard feeling and I didn't know it was
going to hit me that hard when I stood there,
because normally when I watched a final down by the
starting line, I have never been in top end. For
someone else to win a final and come out of
the car and you see their emotion and you know
(09:50):
it's pouring over and you can relate so much to
it because you know that feeling. Obviously I haven't won
an Nentrey, but I wont in other serieses. And when
you get to top end and you know you want
and that emotion that rushes over you and the celebration
with your team and everything, when you get to see
that firsthand in the you know, up the top end
and you know that you want to be there and
(10:11):
that's everything you're working for. I think other people around
could see my face because I had a few people
working there that said you'll get there too, like you
will be there one day, and I was like, what's that?
Obviously I was like, you know, really struggling when I've
been there. Right, Yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Hit on two things I wanted to bring up about that,
which is, because you are at the racetrack still even
when you're not racing, and you said it, staying busy
and having other things that you're doing, particularly the media side,
has to help. And also, as you said, with Alexis,
being your teammate who is running, Yeah, does that make
it harder because you are right there, you're in the pits,
(10:49):
you're with the team, and you watch your teammate get
to do it and you can't yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Absolutely. Plus the fact that when I'm there and I'm
doing all of that and my teammate is racing and
I'm working on the media side, I'm doing my autograph signing,
is taking care of the sponsors, and I'm working with
enter a Dot TV, I'm missing my team because my
team is not there. So that's also very strange that
sometimes I'm talking with my team about something that happened,
for example, in Chicago, and then I realized, God, you
(11:15):
guys weren't there, because like I was at the track,
but I wasn't racing, And it's just a strange feeling.
Like we do everything together. I mean, I'm right now
in my race trailer, sitting here doing this interview, and
right outside, you know, the guys started working on a car,
and I'm here every day, like we worked together all
the time, and we work towards the same goal of
winning out here. And when I packed my bags and
(11:35):
I go out there to work and they're not coming
with me, that's also a strange feeling because it kind
of feels like the big part of our whole purpose
is missing, if that makes sense. So it is hard,
and I mean, I've been incredibly happy to see Alexis
this year getting into the new role in her car
and sharing them on and being there for them, and
(11:57):
it's been a lot of fun to learn more with
the with Entray Dot TV and working on announcing side.
That's not an easy gig. I mean, I shoot props
to them, but just good at that. I'm still feeling
like I'm struggling every time I get on, but hopefully
I'm getting better and better. But man, it is so tough,
Like you just want to feel like you're talking about
you know, when I'm sitting there announcing, I'm talking about
(12:19):
the people that I race with, like about my competition,
and I'm talking about you know, they're big runs and
they're ah, it's such a great condition. That's so hard
when you're standing up there and you look at the
data of how good the track is right now, how
good the air is, and you're saying this could be
record runs, and you're like, man, I want to be
in a car. I want to be there. I want
to shot at the record runs like I want to.
(12:39):
You know, that is really hard. And same thing on
race Ay when I'm announcing on Race Ay and we're
getting ready for first round, you know national anthem roles around.
I get the same kind of nervousness in my stomach
and almost need to tell myself, you're not running. You
don't got to be nervous, you know, like they're doing that.
Today's tough, but it's hard to stop. Like it's I
(13:02):
you really feel that passion burning so strong when you're
on the outside. And I definitely don't want to be
on the outside. But I can say if someone that
has been racing for many, many years and they're in
their car and they're not sure if they love it anymore,
get out and try and be in the announcer's boots
or top end or whatever and see how you feel.
Is if you feel this way, you would get back
(13:23):
in a car as soon as you can. If you
don't feel this way, I don't know, maybe maybe keep
doing announcing. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Has that surprised you or did you expect it to
feel like that? What you just said about how hard
it's been, but yet how nervous you still get, how
much it still means even when you're not in the car.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yes, and no, I mean I didn't know I was
gonna feel nervous on a Sunday when I stood there
talking announces food. Because honestly, last year, when I was
outside for the majority of the season before I actually
get to race, I was also on all of those races.
I was doing the fuel and I was doing you know,
shoots and helped out and so on with my teammates.
But I still didn't feel as nervous, you know, on
(14:06):
a Sunday, I feel like, and then I do right now.
But I'm also not sure if it's because I really
got a taste for it now. Obviously I've always raised,
but now when I have raised here and I'm more
of a well known name in it, right, I feel
like we should be there, so to say. Plus, last year,
when I was outside for all those races, I could
always think just a little more, like just wait a
(14:27):
little longer. It's your term, Like we're gonna get back
to the shop and we're gonna keep working on my
stuff and we're gonna get it ready and soon we're
gonna debut. So like you always had that kind of
date that you had circled around and you count the
days down and that made it easier. That's different now
if I knew, for example, that it's only part time
this year, but I know it's gonna be full time
for next year and several years ahead. I think I
(14:50):
would be a little more at peace with it because
I can have that big number saying when Gamesville rolls
around twenty twenty six on full time, you know, and
that makes it easier because you know it's coming. But
right now when we're still working to secure those sponsors
and we don't really know yet if we are going
to be able to race full time next year or
(15:11):
what it's even gonna look like, and it makes it
so much harder because you don't have that specific time
where you know that that's when it's going to happen.
It's so unknown, and I think it's the unknown that
makes it harder, and you know, makes it feel so
much stronger.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Maybe the nhr A TV stuff you've been doing, which
I've loved, by the way, I do watch from afar right,
so it's fun to see you in that role. For you,
what is an aspect of it that's comfortable for you
eto when you do it and what's the most uncomfortable
about getting getting into that role this year?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Oh, that's a great question, er.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
I kind of still feel like most of it is
kind of uncomfortable. The most comfortable conversations goes on when
Mike is not on and I'm talking with the drivers
when they get out of the car. You know, before
you start an interview, because then you can always is
you know, you can bullshit with each other, and you
can also say hey, how did that feel?
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Or like hey, I saw I saw you peddle that,
like how did it feel? Or whatever. You can. You
can talk about inside stuff another way where it's no pressure.
But as soon as you're supposed to do your interview,
I'm always nervous because English is not my first language.
That makes me nervous because I'm afraid I'm gonna say
something wrong or that I'm not gonna find a word.
And when it does happen, other people usually don't notice,
(16:24):
but in my mind it feels like they're waiting for
for a long time before I can get that word out.
So that's a little hard, but top end is really fun.
It is hard because you gotta you know, obviously, ask
the right questions, but you get to see the realms before,
so you know what this person ran, you know how
it stood up to everybody else. And you know where
they're currently qualified or whatever happens, you can watch a
(16:47):
rerun up before you actually speak to them. But when
you're in the boot, it's so much harder because you
gotta talk as it happens. And that's that scares me,
just because when you do that, you're so afraid you
gotta either miss something, say something wrong, or accidentally pits
someone off. That's usually like new things that are really hard.
I like to explain what happens when you see the
(17:08):
round we do the slow molds, and you like to
do that, but I'm also terrified about it because it
depends on which track and where the cameras are lined up,
because sometimes you see very clearly. I remember some of
the first races I did, we were sitting right behind it,
so I could see the cars go down track. You
could see if the tires were shaking. You could see
if it started to spin, if you put a hole out,
So when you were explaining, you could say that, like
(17:30):
you can see on the screen that you get a
hole out. The reason you get a hole I was
probably because it was spinning for a while before that.
You can see that from behind it. You could explain
what happened or whatever it might be. You could say, hey,
that was tire shaking. We see a slow wall of
the tire shaking. You can explain that. But on some
tracks you are placed in an angle where you can't
see You can see the cars, but you can't see
the tires. You can't see the marks it leaves on
(17:52):
the track. You might be too far away or too
far from the side. Sometimes the camera angle can be
more from the front, where you can't act you see
the tires working that well, so you might see a
hole go out, but you don't can't see if it's spinning.
And then makes me, you know, afraid to speak on
it because I don't want to say something and then
make it sound like that's the reason the car did
(18:13):
something or the driver did something. Well, that's not the
whole story, because I know that that's how you can
definitely say so off if you start saying something that
is not accurate. So those kinds of things is a
little hard. I'm actually found talking about the bikes has
been more fun than I thought, because obviously I come
from that bike background. I race bikes for many years,
and a lot of the drivers on the pros of
(18:34):
bike side or the riders. I know them like I've
either raced with them in the past in the class
that I raced, or you know, been in contact with
them true work or whatever it might be. So it's
been really fun because a lot of these announcers that
I work with, they don't really have any background on bikes.
So that's where I can kind of give insights that
they might not be used to or they might not know,
(18:55):
like why is this driver doing this in the start?
Why is this driver moving around like that? How does
it feel if this happens through dama or whatever it
might be. And yeah, that's been actually really fun. And
I think I've opened some people's eyes that didn't know
I raced bikes before that all of a sudden come
by and say, wow, I didn't know you. I didn't
know you knew any of my bikes. So it's been
(19:16):
a little fun. I feel like sometimes not all the time,
but sometimes the bike class gets a little less attention
than they should and maybe I can be able to
bring something in there that makes people more people, you know,
be interested in it. If you were a great you know,
nitro fan and you get to hear some cool stuff
about the bikes. You might think it's even more fun
to check them out because they're really about us.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
I think it's admirable how busy you have stayed, as
we're talking about, and also the different opportunities that you've had,
because I saw you at Bristol for the NASCAR race.
You came and joined us for there, you know, the
NHATV stuff we just talked about. I really enjoyed you
and Leah on Sarah Spain's podcast a couple of weeks ago.
I know you've done some guests speak and gone at
(20:00):
different events. Could you have imagined Itta that you'd even
have opportunities like this. I mean, granted, you want to
be racing, but you're also in a position to where
you are still very visible and relevant when you're not
in the car.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, I mean I have. Even when I raced over
in Europe, I tried to do as much as I could.
I mean, I jumped on every opportunity to do a
good podcast or whatever it might be. I had a
little podcast studio set up in my office because a
lot of times you did it was a live show
and it started, you know, in the afternoon in America,
and I was over there, and I usually meant four
(20:35):
am my time, so I took a little nap on
the couch in my office in the garage, and then
I went up and I do the podcast, and I
took another nap before I had to get up and
start for worksday. So I've obviously been trying to do
as much as possible, but it hasn't been anywhere close
to what it's been over here in America obviously. Last year,
I was also so incredibly busy because I worked so
heavily with Dodge Europe. So I traveled back six or
(20:58):
seven times to Europe to create content with them. We
were filming the YouTube series Dodge In and Out that
they have on their YouTube series, and we did that
on different events through Europe. So there was a lot
of traveling back and forth for me, a lot of
doing that. This year, I have had even more opportunities.
Like you mentioned, I've been able to go to my
(21:19):
first VERNASCAR race, which was very cool. I actually went
to my first IndyCar race put into five hundred as well,
and then went to New York to speak on the
Business of Women's Sports Summit, which was huge. And you know,
you've done a lot of that, and I'm very happy
that I've been able to get requests to do a
lot of these things because I love doing it, like
(21:40):
I really do talking about the sport. I mean, you
know me, you can barely get me to shut up
because I keep talking about the sport a lot. But
it's something I'm really really passionate about. Obviously, it kind
of means even more when I'm not raising full time,
because I know it's very important for me to be
out here and you know, represent our sponsors and find
new partners and talk to new companies and do all
(22:02):
these networking. And I definitely don't, you know, I don't.
I'll to say I don't. I can't find English words
for this. But it's not something that I, you know,
forget or like, it's not something that I take for granted.
Maybe I definitely see the value in all that, And yeah,
(22:24):
it's it's fun. I didn't I didn't know it was
going to be this much when I'm not in the seat.
I definitely didn't know it's going to be asked to
do the editor dot TV stuff like that. Was that
was brand new for me. So there's a lot of
new opportunities kind of popped up that I didn't have
any knowledge about when I moved here. The fact that
any tra have been able to partner with the Blue
Sports and do so much for trying to find more
(22:48):
sponsorship women in drag racing. That has been fantastic. And
a lot of the things that that have brought with
this have been incredibly fun but also not expected. Definitely
not so it's been cool.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
All right, Two more questions for you. So again it's
we're coming up on one year of you being in
the car, but you've been here, You've been on the
circuit now for over a year and have been meshed
in NHA drag racing and meshed in the community. I'm
curious what your kind of takeaways or what stands out
about the NHA life and community. I'm sure because when
(23:25):
you came over here and you knew that this was
going to be your future, you probably had a lot
of thoughts or expectations built up in your mind. So
what has stood out about the competition or the fans
or just again the community, the pits, just everything of
being here now that you are in it.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Yeah, Oh, it's a great question. And so drag racing
in Europe. That I mean, I've been in the industry
for so long. It's same but different, like the fans
we have basically defense really feel the same. We have
great fans in Europe. I mean we do pack the
stands in Europe. We can have between thirty and sixty
(24:04):
thousand people in a weekend, which is kind of like
an entry event, and they're very loyal, you know, very
great fans. So that feeling of being at the track
and having those fans up close and you know, open it,
it has felt very at home. Honestly. I always had
hospitality in Europe that we worked heavily with, but over
here it's bigger. You know, most of the teams they
(24:26):
have bigger hospitalities and so on. For me, back at home,
I was very fortunate that a lot of times we
ran on hospitality. My mom and dad helped me and
we had friends that call help me, and you know,
it was me doing this, you know, setup for all that,
like the planning for it, and then I had my
family helped me out. So obviously all that is very
different over here. The way. Something that's different for me
(24:47):
is also that we always stayed at the track, like
throughout my whole career. It wasn't until I raised the
last couple of years in Top Few and we raised
some of the races that we stayed at the hotel.
Most of the time we have stayed after racetrack in
our race bus. So that was a big adjustment for
me to go from when you're done at the racetrack,
which normally was around midnight back at home. You you know,
(25:10):
the guys usually had a bear. We sat there, talked
about the day, we planned the next day, and then
we went to bed and then walk up in the morning.
We made breakfast together. You know, everybody sat there, we
had a coffee. You get really close because it really
feels like you're from a you know, family camping trip
every time basically you go there and also used to
really being at the track. Same time. If you have downtime,
let's say it's raining or there's ather layer or whatever,
(25:32):
you can go into your own bus. You can sit there,
you can work, you can do you know, whatever you
need to do, even take an ap if it's been
a lot, you know. So that's definitely been an adjustment
for me to not stay at the track and have
to kind of you know, go to a hotel all
the time or so on. But I'm getting kind of
used to it. And then another thing that that is
(25:54):
the biggest difference for me is in Europe when it
comes to your own marketing and kind of getting your
name out there, your brand and doing all that, it's
basically it's all on you. Like I I've always done
my own social media. I still do. JACM was able
to hire a great girl this year to help us
get content, and she runs the JCM racing pages and
(26:15):
she's the one that feeds me with all the great
photos and all the great videos. But I'm the one
that edits and posts and talk to all my fans
and do everything on my page, which I take a
lot of pride in. But it's not just that. Like
over here and a Trade does such a great job
with both any trade of TV the Fox you know show,
and also with with everything they do for like you
(26:39):
know media days, different pr things, social media, everything we
didn't have that. We didn't have, you know, a sanctioning
body that actually had a Facebook or Instagram page that
they posted the drivers, so that they promoted the drivers.
We had a live stream on some places, but the
live stream was usually We had great announcers, and we
had cameras to show the car go down tracks, but
(27:00):
you actually never get to see the face of the driver,
who usually didn't have a that's also different. I'm not
used to having a camera in my face and I
get your top end. There's no cameras in the top
end in Europe. Like, that's just me if I want to,
you know, do whatever over there. You hell, most drivers,
if it's top they take their shirt off and change
your t shirt. You don't do that over here, you know.
So there's a lot of things that is different over here.
(27:24):
Another thing, obviously I haven't won over here yet. I
haven't been to explain that that way. But in Europe,
when you win, there's not a wind light that shows
you that you want. There's no one in top end
that has your timeplasts and tells you that you want.
You have to wait for your team to tell you
that you want. So the time you're standing there, which
can be a couple of minutes, and it's usually two
drivers and sometimes you know. Sometimes you know because you
(27:46):
see the other car, but you don't always know. So
if it was a tight race, you're standing there and
both are waiting to see what happens your your crew
is coming there, and if they're haunting their horn and
they're hanging out of the windows screaming, you know you
want and you get to celebrate with them like at
that moment. And that is something that that is very
different over here obviously, and something that I think you
(28:08):
might if if you experience that in Europe. It's actually
you do really get to celebrate, which the team A
lot of driver says I wish I got to celebrate
with my team, only one on the start line. In
Europe you kind of do because they're the ones that
that you know, give you the news and get to celebrate,
which is so Yeah, to make a very long story short,
like there's a lot of similarities, a lot of changes,
(28:30):
but I want to say that what Entry does to
promote the sport and to promote their drivers is something
that is very different from what we have over there.
And for building your brand and you know, staying out
here and having a face out here, that is it's crucial,
like you need that you can't just rely on the
driver to do the whole job themselves. So I think
(28:54):
it's a combo and it's a great combore.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah, all right, So to wrap up our conversation because
I know we're up on our time here, I'm curious.
We've got Brainerd and the US Nationals I believe are next.
Those are the next two events. What does the rest
of this year look like for you in terms of
when are you going to be behind the wheel? And
then I you know, I don't know if you have
anything yet ready to announce for twenty twenty six, but like,
what are the hopes obviously in plans for that.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, nothing to announce for twenty twenty six. We're obviously
working super hard on making twenty twenty six a full season,
Like that is the goal, Like a full season for
US in twenty twenty six and beyond, like that is
what we want to announce. Can't announce it yet, but
I really hope that we will at some points this year.
That is what we're working towards. When it comes to
this year, Brainerd and India are the next two coming up,
(29:38):
and often that the only two that are for sure
right now is Dallas and and those were on our schedule.
We originally had Maple Grove on our schedule, but we
had to kind of trade it for BRAINERD. We need
that time before going into India, which is the race,
the biggest race of our year, and you know, have
that kind of time to to make more like before
(30:00):
we get into Indy, we really hope we're going to
be able to add Maple Grow and hopefully also Vegas,
But as it looks right now, that is not something
that I can say for sure, but if I, if
I could pick out what would be able to do
those two as well. So that's how it looks right now,
and we're trying to make the most of it from
the times we're going out and then hopefully, like I said,
(30:22):
next year will be full season.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Yeah, well hopefully it will be. And I know you
want to be behind the wheel. But again, I think
it's admirable that people are still able to see you.
You are still out there. You are doing everything you
can to make sure people know I am here, I
am here, and I have things going on. So I
do think that's awesome. But you know, I always appreciate
talking to you. Again, I think what you're doing is fantastic,
(30:44):
and hopefully you'll be back behind the wheel a lot
more than what you have been. But in the meantime,
thanks for giving me some time and just adding to
your stack of.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Things you're doing. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.
And I will be announcing on all the races that
I don't write, so I'll be at the track no
matter what, so that's a given at least. But yeah,
I wish we could add more races this year, but
in all honesty, next year and the years beyond is
more important for us because obviously, as it is right now,
we can't chase a championship. We're not in the Hans
(31:15):
since we're not running a full SISA. I want to
race as much as possible, but to be able to
go whole seasons in the future is our biggest priority.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
It makes sense, it makes well. I appreciate it as always.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
One more time. I thank you to Ida for coming
on the podcast. Appreciate it very much. Wonderful personality, great talent.
She is the twenty twenty three European Top Fuel Champion,
which if you go back and find her previous appearance
on the podcast, you will hear her talk all about
This is just a catch up. She's back on track
this weekend. It's a big weekend for an NHA. They
returned the competition after a couple weeks off, so they
will be in brainerd ADA will be there along with
(31:59):
Alexis Joria. You heard her mention her teammate and all
of JCM racing, so she's not gonna be in the
broadcast boost she will be racing. That is great to see.
And I really do hope that she's gonna get funding
to keep doing this because you heard her say there
in the podcast. She didn't come here to do this
for one year or a couple months. She's here long term.
She wants to win races and win championships. And if
(32:19):
that car can and driver can keep being competitive in
that class, who we're gonna keep having some great races
in top field competitions. So DA, thank you once again
for coming on the podcast. My appreciation as well to
Jessica Hatcher for also coordinating, making sure we had this
on our calendars and putting this in front of me.
I don't get to cover as much NHA this year
as I would like to, but I appreciate Jessica popping
(32:43):
in my email and saying, hey, do you want to
chat with DA? And of course I do so appreciate
you both. If you enjoyed the conversation, please leave a
rating and review. You can also go to social media
and interact with me there. In the show notes of
this episode, go to the link tree page where you
will find all of my social media accounts from x to, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook,
LinkedIn all over the place. So thank you for clicking
and listening and all of your support on the podcast.
(33:06):
The Official NASCAR Cookbook, NASCAR Race Day Eats is coming soon.
We are getting ever closer to that October release date.
You will see that on my social media as well.
If you see me at the racetrack, ask for a
bookmark as a QR code you can pre order, or
you can go online and pre order and have it
at your door when it comes out in late October.
So that's the Official NASCAR Cookbook, NASCAR Race Day Eats
(33:27):
for all of your tailgating and partings. Oh there's some
really great stuff in there, so I hope you will
check that out as well. And that is all for
this episode of the podcast. Appreciates you for clicking, listening, downloading.
I say it all the time because I truly do
mean it. Thank you for being a fan and being
in this little community that we have built. So thank you.
That's all for this week and I will see you
again real soon on The Racing Writer's podcast, thank
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