It wasn't the way Zizzo Racing wanted to end its 2011 campaign, but TJ Zizzo and his Chicago-based teammates have nothing to hang their heads about. A season highlighted by an upset win of championship contender Spencer Massey at the team's home track, Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., also saw several improvements in its qualifying program and race day tune-ups.
 
In the first round of the Auto Club NHRA Finals Sunday, Zizzo was paired with fellow second-generation racer Brandon Bernstein. Despite a quicker reaction time by Bernstein, Zizzo was faster nearly the entire 1,000 feet by .06 seconds at one point. Unfortunately, the PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner dragster's supercharger failed near the finish line, giving Bernstein the round win and ending Zizzo Racing's season.

After 15 years as a constant presence on the starting line at drag strips all over the country, NHRA starter Rick Stewart is retiring from his post after today's Auto Club NHRA Finals. Zizzo Racing wishes him nothing but the best and has made the following statements:

Tony Zizzo, Team Owner: "The only problem I have with (Stewart retiring) is that him and my redheaded girlfriend/fiancee are like lovers! They always kiss each other before the first round. Every time we go to the starting line, they're kissing each other. That's good luck! We won't have that kiss anymore."

On the day after 11-11-11, PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner Top Fuel driver TJ Zizzo qualified, you guessed it, 11^th after laying down a smooth 3.888 second ET in the third round of qualifying for the Auto Club NHRA Finals. Q3 was also the last round of the weekend for the nitro classes due to inclement weather. The NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle and Pro Stock classes were able to get all four rounds in.
 
A year that has seen the Chicago-based Zizzo Racing make numerous positive strides has also gone by very quickly for the second-generation racer. Sunday's first round of eliminations will see him face another driver from a racing family, Brandon Bernstein. Bernstein barely edged the Zizzo Racing rail for the round win at Indy in September and the team is looking forward to the matchup tomorrow.
                          
"Man, it feels like just yesterday that we started the season here at the Winternationals," Zizzo said. "We're facing Bernstein. We last faced him at Indy and gave him a great run. We were awfully close to nipping him so we'll try to do our best tomorrow and see where we go."

In drag racing, cool is, well, cool. Cool temps make for better racing conditions, faster speeds, and quicker times. On Thursday at the Auto Club NHRA World Finals at Auto Club Raceway, the weather conditions were cool and overcast. On Friday, it was the same.
 
Until it came time for TJ Zizzo to make his Q2 run in the PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner dragster.
 
"The weather of course played into it," Zizzo said of his 3.935 second run that placed him 15^th in the qualifying bracket. "You have a little bit of cloud cover all day long, actually a lot of cloud cover, and then before we go (to the starting line), the sun comes out.

Looking to take advantage of overcast skies and cool track temps, TJ Zizzo and Zizzo Racing went for it during Thursday's Rd. 1 of NHRA Full Throttle Series qualifying at the Auto Club NHRA World Finals here. Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, the gambit paid off with the Chicago-based Top Fuel team as they earned the No. 2 overall spot when Q1 ended.
 
The tuneup at Auto Club Raceway was just a bit too aggressive, causing the PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner dragster to smoke the Goodyears almost immediately, resulting in a 9.896 second ET. Since it was the only qualifying run of the day, the team can take extra time to prepare the car for Friday's second round and earn a spot in Sunday's eliminations.

For the entirety of the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Series season, Chicago native and Top Fuel pilot TJ Zizzo has partnered with legendary drag racing artist Kenny Youngblood to celebrate the latter's 45^th year in the sport. For this weekend's Auto Club NHRA World Finals, the pair are honoring the man whose vision 60 years ago became a national phenomenon and the fastest sport in the world: Wally Parks.
 
"It's the most fitting tribute we could come up with," said Zizzo, a second-generation driver who races for his father, Tony. "It's the epitome of both Kenny's talent and the man who made it all possible."
 
"It's been an incredible and fun year for me working with the Zizzos," Youngblood said. "They are a hardcore group of racers and the family I never had."

TJ Zizzo and the PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner Top Fuel team made a heroic effort in the final round of qualifying Saturday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, putting themselves solidly in the field at 11^th with an ET of 3.879 seconds at a team record 319.14 mph. They knew they had their work cut out for them, however, with three-time and defending NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon in the opposite lane.
 
The Big O Tires NHRA Nationals E1 pairing was only the third time in Zizzo's career he has faced Dixon, the most recent matchup coming at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Penn., in 2005. The champ put it down the track in 3.844 seconds to earn the round win, while Zizzo became a victim of the right lane, striking his tires. Only David Grubnic earned a round win in the right lane in the first round of Top Fuel eliminations.

They rolled the dice and avoided snake eyes. They hit 21 at the table. They bet it all on black at the roulette table and won. Pick your favorite Las Vegas cliché and apply it to TJ Zizzo and the PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner team because when the chips were down at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday, the team put up a 3.879 second ET at a team record 319.14 mph. The run put Zizzo Racing in the 11^th qualifying position for Sunday's Big O Tires NHRA Nationals where they will face three-time and defending NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon.
 
The Chicago-based team qualified No. 2 in the first round Friday, earning two bonus points in the process, but back-to-back engine issues put the group behind the eight ball. The last-second discovery of an air leak allowed the PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner crew to lay down a solid run and get into the show.