BAYTOWN, Texas – After sitting at home since the Winternationals in February, TJ Zizzo and his PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner NHRA Full Throttle Series team were ready to race. After meet and greets at the Houston Bass Pro Shop, two O’Reilly Auto Parts stores here in Baytown, and a hugely successful NHRA Night at Minute Maid Park where the hometown Astros suffered an 11-5 loss to ten-time World Series champs the St. Louis Cardinals, Zizzo fired his rail down the track during Q1 at Royal Purple Raceway for the 24th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals.
And spun the tires at the 60-foot mark.
But crew chief Mark Kern and the rest of the team were hardly concerned. ““Went out this afternoon for our first qualifying pass and had some new parts on the car,” he said while the car was being torn down. “Nothing spectacular, just some newer stuff. It was a little bit tipped over, went out to the 60 feet and smoked the tires. We came back and pretty much left everything alone in the engine department and just calmed down our clutch and our timing to match what the track was going to give us.”
The track gave Zizzo Racing plenty in the second round as Illinois native Zizzo laid down a pass of 3.885 at 314.90 mph, temporarily putting the team at the top of the leaderboard. At the end of the round, seven-time Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher would take over the low qualifier spot with a scorching ET of 3.817 at 323.81 mph. Zizzo was more than happy with a provisional sixth-place position and dedicated it to a new sponsor.
“We brought in a new marketing partner, Kit DeAndre, a golf pro at Liberty Lake Golf Course in Spokane, Wash. I just want to thank him. We met him in Pomona about six months ago, he came aboard, a super dude and that 3.88 run we just ran was for you, Kit! Running that 3.88 was spectacular. We’re the number six qualifier and we’re out there in the ranks with the Schumachers, the Dixons, the Worshams of the world. It feels really good.”
The final two rounds of qualifying for the Nitro classes are scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. local time Saturday. Finals kick off Sunday at 11 a.m. immediately following pre-race ceremonies. Spectator gates open at 7:30 a.m. For information about the event or to purchase tickets, visit RoyalPurpleRaceway.com or call 281-383-7223.
Fans of TJ Zizzo and Zizzo Racing can find updates and photos of the PEAK/Herculiner Top Fuel team by checking out ZizzoRacing.com, Twitter.com/ZizzoRacing, and Facebook.com/ZizzoRacing. Videos of TJ and Zizzo Racing can be found at YouTube.com/TJZizzo.
And spun the tires at the 60-foot mark.
But crew chief Mark Kern and the rest of the team were hardly concerned. ““Went out this afternoon for our first qualifying pass and had some new parts on the car,” he said while the car was being torn down. “Nothing spectacular, just some newer stuff. It was a little bit tipped over, went out to the 60 feet and smoked the tires. We came back and pretty much left everything alone in the engine department and just calmed down our clutch and our timing to match what the track was going to give us.”
The track gave Zizzo Racing plenty in the second round as Illinois native Zizzo laid down a pass of 3.885 at 314.90 mph, temporarily putting the team at the top of the leaderboard. At the end of the round, seven-time Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher would take over the low qualifier spot with a scorching ET of 3.817 at 323.81 mph. Zizzo was more than happy with a provisional sixth-place position and dedicated it to a new sponsor.
“We brought in a new marketing partner, Kit DeAndre, a golf pro at Liberty Lake Golf Course in Spokane, Wash. I just want to thank him. We met him in Pomona about six months ago, he came aboard, a super dude and that 3.88 run we just ran was for you, Kit! Running that 3.88 was spectacular. We’re the number six qualifier and we’re out there in the ranks with the Schumachers, the Dixons, the Worshams of the world. It feels really good.”
The final two rounds of qualifying for the Nitro classes are scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. local time Saturday. Finals kick off Sunday at 11 a.m. immediately following pre-race ceremonies. Spectator gates open at 7:30 a.m. For information about the event or to purchase tickets, visit RoyalPurpleRaceway.com or call 281-383-7223.
Fans of TJ Zizzo and Zizzo Racing can find updates and photos of the PEAK/Herculiner Top Fuel team by checking out ZizzoRacing.com, Twitter.com/ZizzoRacing, and Facebook.com/ZizzoRacing. Videos of TJ and Zizzo Racing can be found at YouTube.com/TJZizzo.
