PART-TIMER ZIZZO SPEEDS TO TOP FUEL PROVISIONAL NO. 1 AT GAINESVILLE

Written by Lee Montgomery, photo by Roger Richards    Sat, 2019-03-16 08:00

 

No, that's not a typo on the Top Fuel qualifying sheet. That really is TJ Zizzo at the top of the chart after the second qualifying session for the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals Friday at Gainesville Raceway.

The part-driver with his part-time team made a stellar pass of 3.762 seconds at 323.35 mph to lead Doug Kalitta (3.776), Brittany Force (3.800), Steve Torrence (3.800) and the rest of the 18-car field. Zizzo doesn't have a No. 1 qualifier in his career, nor has he ever been provisional No. 1.

So the feeling must be amazing.

"I'll tell you, it's not my feeling," Zizzo said. "(On video) I watched the expression of our entire team when I went to the finish line. When they saw the scoreboard light up, that's what gets me excited. That's what I'm excited about. I saw that they jumped for joy like we just won the event. One of the guys even had tears in his eyes, so that's what it's about, honest."

His entire team is made up of volunteers, Zizzo said, but many have been with him since his Top Alcohol Dragster days. And Zizzo insisted that even though he races sporadically, the team doesn't just pull his car out of the corner of a shop, dust it off and head to the track.

"Our guys work really hard on our race car," Zizzo said. "I realize I haven’t raced since the U.S. Nationals. I understand that, everyone understands that. But we're constantly working on it. Some part-time teams park their car for an extended period of time, and then they get it out of the woodwork and run their car just to run it.

"We don't do that. We really race hard. I choose to spend time away from my family, my wife, my daughter. I choose to do that, so I better make it worthwhile because the most disappointing thing I get to do after first round of losing is call my wife. She says, 'Hey, why in the world do you do all this and lose first round?' So when we come here, we want to win."

Zizzo said his team shaved more than 100 pounds of his car since he last raced, at the U.S. Nationals last September. That's no easy – or cheap – task. Losing that weight forced Zizzo and his team to adjust the car's tuneup, as the center of gravity and weight transfer changed.

"The second pass was extremely smooth," Zizzo said. "We have lost about 101 pounds off the car this past off-season. It's cost us a lot of money, but as you can tell, it's been worthwhile."

 

 

 

 
Categories: 
:::::: News ::::::