EXCLUSIVE: How Ida Zetterström Took over Leah Pruett’s Car and Made It Her Playground

What can be better than the combined talents of two legends? Ida Zetterström, currently in the NHRA, led a trailblazing journey in the 2023 European drag racing championship. Clinching 4 event wins and 3 Number one qualifiers while breaking the FIA Top Fuel records (3.77/321 MPH) displayed the Swedish speedster’s indomitable drive. But did you know that Zetterström took help from a fellow Top Fuel racer in the USA? Well, now you do – that racer was Leah Pruett, as Zetterström revealed in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports.

Presently in a maternity hiatus from the NHRA, Leah Pruett is also a drag racing icon. Holding 11 victories in the Top Fuel category, she is an inspiration for many racers. No wonder harnessing Pruett’s secret formula may have worked wonders for Ida Zetterström, as she drove it to success.

Ida Zetterström was already in American wheels

“The dream has always been to come over here and race.” Ida Zetterström confessed these words in 2024, when her NHRA journey was just beginning. The JCM Racing Team signed her up for an 8-race schedule in 2024, and in 2025, she is running a full slate. However, piloting the 12,000 horsepower Top Fuel dragster was not her first experience with the machine. Zetterström worked with Dodge as a brand ambassador in Europe – a role which Leah Pruett also had. In May 2024, the two straight-line speedsters put their skills to the test behind a pair of Dodge Hellcats. As it turns out, Zetterström and Pruett have a deeper bond than that.

Speaking with EssentiallySports, Ida Zetterström spilled the beans on her championship-winning Top Fuel dragster back in 2023. She revealed how most of the European cars were imported from the US, and she got lined up with the car of none other than Leah Pruett. “Basically, a lot of the cars in Europe, a lot of the chassis, they were bought from teams over here in the US. The car that I drove and actually won the championship in 2023 was a car that Leah had previously driven.”

Car seats are specially molded to accommodate the size of a racer. So what helped Ida Zetterström further was her physical structure. It more or less matched Leah Pruett’s shape, as the Swedish racer continued that it “worked out well for me because we’re basically the same length and the same size. So the car was very well made for someone her size. And I think that made it fit me so well right away. I felt so comfortable in that car getting right in. And obviously, having a strong team behind me was the biggest part of our success. But it didn’t hurt to have a car that was built for someone that was very similar to me.”

Let alone not hurting, the dragster helped Ida Zetterström create records in Europe. In her quest for the European championship title, she lost just a single elimination round. Her ecstatic emotions were visible on her 2023 winning post on Instagram: “To say I’m proud of my team is an understatement. We came into this season looking for revenge after ending last season with a disappointing first-round exit and a weekend of struggles. We were looking for a strong comeback, and that’s exactly what we got in the first race of the season, and after that, we never looked back ”

Clearly, this was possible due to Leah Pruett’s help. What is more, the NHRA veteran is further paving the way for an easier career for Ida Zetterström and others.

A brighter and healthier future

As Tony Stewart’s fans are well aware, the veteran has achieved thumping success lately. The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion fetched his first NHRA Top Fuel victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That came after a year of wheeling his wife Leah Pruett’s dragster. At the same time, Pruett has been reaching different milestones for the sport as a whole. At the end of 2023, the veteran took a break from racing to focus on her family.

But she faced a dilemma – how would she balance her motherhood duties with her racing passion? That is why Pruett pushed for an amendment to the NHRA’s Driver Replacement Policy. She banded together many leading female drag racers like Erica Enders, Angie Smith, Julie Nataas, Jasmine Salinas, and Ida Zetterström as well.

In an interview with NHRA last year, Pruett revealed the true purpose of her efforts. “It’s important to say that this isn’t about telling a woman that she can’t race because she’s pregnant, it is about creating an opportunity for a female to step out of the seat and have the opportunities that any other person would have for any other medical condition, be it COVID-19 or injury protocol.” Pruett further shed light on the parallel struggles that all women face. “I feel like this addresses what I consider the ‘invisible race,’ women in motorsports who are racing to become successful and prominent, to establish their careers, their driving ability, their brands.”

Evidently, Leah Pruett continues to help Ida Zetterström in more ways than her championship-winning dragster. As she paves her path in the NHRA, we cannot wait for her to fetch more laurels!

The post EXCLUSIVE: How Ida Zetterström Took over Leah Pruett’s Car and Made It Her Playground appeared first on EssentiallySports.