BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Girls can be main the cost at JCM Racing as headliners Alexis DeJoria and Ida Zetterström have been commissioned to imagine the driving obligations for Joe and P.J. Maynard’s two-car operation.
Competing as the game’s first all-female nitro crew, DeJoria (beforehand introduced) will pilot the Bandero Premium Tequila Humorous Automobile whereas Zetterström can be on the controls of the JCM Racing Prime Gas dragster.
DeJoria and Zetterström will make their debut as JCM Racing teammates throughout Nationwide Girls’s Month when the 2025 NHRA Mission Meals Drag Racing Collection season kicks off with the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., March 7-9.
DeJoria, a 12-year Humorous Automobile veteran who beforehand competed underneath the DC Motorsports banner, will run the complete slate of NHRA Mission Meals Collection occasions.
Returning for her sophomore season with JCM, Zetterström is confirmed for a half-season schedule consisting of 10 races with the objective of including occasions in hopes of operating a full-season marketing campaign.
“This sport has a protracted historical past of highly effective ladies who’ve made their mark not solely on NHRA Drag Racing however the motorsports business as a complete,” stated Maynard, JCM Racing crew proprietor. “Girls have been on the forefront of the NHRA for a few years, and we’re proud to be the primary group to have an all-female roster of nitro-powered drivers. Ida and Alexis are the complete bundle and can characterize us nicely each on and off the observe.
“Working with Ida final yr, and seeing her drive and tenacity, I’ve little question that it’s solely a matter of time earlier than she has an NHRA championship to associate with her European championships,” added Maynard. “Her work ethic is unbelievable and that interprets to success on the observe. I’m hopeful we will proceed so as to add extra races to her schedule this yr and put her ready to have a shot on the Countdown. As for Alexis, it’s clear that she is true there on the cusp, a champion-in-the-making, and our objective for this season is to place her in the very best automotive surrounded by an ideal crew in order that she will be able to make a run at changing into the primary girl in NHRA historical past to win a Humorous Automobile title.”
Calling the pictures on the Bandero Humorous Automobile is Mike ‘Zippy’ Neff, who has been instrumental in tuning a number of high-profile drivers to quite a few race wins along with his two Humorous Automobile championships.
The Zetterström/Jon Schaffer driver/crew chief duo stays intact after a late-season 2024 debut. Like Neff, Schaffer’s resume can be jam-packed with highlights, together with double-digit race wins and a collection title since assuming the position of NHRA crew chief.
At their first race collectively on the 2024 Brainerd, Minn. occasion, Zetterström and Schaffer impressed with a semifinal end however felt that they didn’t actually hit their stride till a number of races later when the season was coming to an finish.
“I really feel like we left so much on the desk relating to exhibiting individuals what we’re able to,” defined Zetterström. “Everybody else had a 12-race head begin on us so by the point we got here out in August, the remainder of the sphere had a number of months of getting the kinks labored out. To not point out, a lot of these groups have labored collectively for years and years whereas we have been a brand-new crew that was ranging from scratch. Proper because it began to really feel like we have been moving into our groove, the season ended. So, we’re able to get again on the market and show ourselves. I hope we will put collectively the correct funding to race a full season, however regardless, I’ll be out on the observe each race weekend, both competing for win lights or supporting my new teammate from the beginning line. I’m excited for Alexis and me to be teammates this yr.”
