CHICAGO -- Zizzo racing will display their PEAK / HERCULINER Top Fuel dragster this weekend at the O'Reilly Auto Parts World of Wheels show held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center March 5-7. Driver, T.J. Zizzo will sign autographs in the O'Reilly display from 12PM-3PM then from 5PM-8PM on Saturday. 

The auto show features all forms of vehicles, from classics, to street rods and the ultimate 8,000 horsepower machine, piloted by T.J. Zizzo.

"It's been an exciting winter," Zizzo said. "We've been having a lot of fun on our off season tour, doing displays for PEAK. The World of Wheels in Chicago will be extra special since it's so much like a hometown event for us. I know we'll see lots of friends, family and fans this weekend."

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. - T.J. Zizzo, driver of the PEAK/HERCULINER/O'Reilly Top Fuel Dragster participated in Celebrity Readers Day at Fairhaven School in Illinois. Zizzo read from his favorite childhood book "Little Turtle's Big Adventure".

"My mom used to read that book to me when I was a kid," Zizzo explained. "The book has been around. It's all taped up, I even read it to my kids."

"I had a lot of fun," Zizzo added. "Kids ask the craziest questions. Since they knew I raced, the wanted to know if I was faster than a cheetah - or if I could run fast. It was fun for me to get away from my regular routine and make a little difference for those kids just for a day."

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. - August 2009 marked a first for Zizzo Racing and if you ask Tony Zizzo, it won't be the last. Tony Zizzo, team owner of the PEAK, HERCULINER / O'Reilly Top Fuel Dragster that competes in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, made his rookie trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats last summer more than memorable.

While Tony is no stranger to speed of the quarter-mile variety, he did find the 159 square mile salt flats of northwestern Utah a different challenge. "It's a different world out there," Zizzo said. "Bonneville is the place for old drag racers that lose their reaction time," he joked.

A few of the differences in racing for Land Speed Records and Drag Racing became evident to Zizzo shortly after his first licensing pass on the three short track. "The officials told me not to go over 125 mph even though I have drag racing experience at least twice that fast," Zizzo explained. "It's really hard to tell how fast you're going out there. There's no grandstands or finish line to give you a sense of speed. I felt like I was on a Sunday drive." 

Zizzo's 217 mph rookie pass landed him in hot water with track officials. "They wouldn't even give me my time slip," Zizzo said. "I really didn't feel like I was going that fast." The compromise that kept Zizzo at 2009 Speed Week was to 'leave the track' and return the next day as if had never been there and start all over again. Just a rookie mistake. 

"Everyone is pretty layed back out there," Zizzo explained. "But it is a lot different on the salt. In Top Fuel we've got that big wing and 8,000lbs of down force. In Bonneville, you've got nothing! You can really feel the aerodynamics come into play on the Lakester. The car just wants to find the clean air, so you can feel it drifting around. You can feel the car just skating around. It's like driving on ice."

On the next day (or first day - depending on which track official your talking to), Zizzo made his second pass clocking 258 mph over 3 miles, again too fast. This time Zizzo was asked to slow down so he would have a proper time slip to turn in for his license. Licensing on for a Land Speed Record is similar to licensing in drag racing, where incremental steps in speed and distance must be achieved safely to obtain a license. For a Double A Lakster, drivers are required to make seven passes, with the first speed not surpassing 125 mph.

With his Double AA Lakster Licence finally in hand, Zizzo set out to break the Land Speed Record. His best attempt registered 261.4 mph, missing the 262.5 mph record by barely 1 mph.

"We made seven passes in two days, I got my license and nearly reset the record," Zizzo said. "That's unheard of in Bonneville."

Zizzo's fiancee' Cathie Gallo made the trip with Tony, which included a stop at Sturgis for Bike Week to get his fix of riding in. "By yourself you can't do anything in these deals. With Cathie by my side and Ted Gledhill providing a great car we had a great Speed Week in Bonneville."

Zizzo plans to revisit Bonneville this summer in attempt to break his personal best of 261.4 mph on the salt. "It's on my bucket list," Zizzo says with a sparkle in his eye. "300 mph on asphalt and 300 mph on salt, we'll be there in August to do it."

The 2010 SCTA Bonneville Speed Week is August 14-20, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  - Zizzo Racing's Tony and T.J. Zizzo put the PEAK, HERCULINER / O'Reilly Top Fuel Dragster on display yesterday during the 2010 O'Reilly's National Managers Conference at The Gaylord Opryland Resort And Convention Center. The opportunity gave Zizzo a chance to meet O'Reilly team members from around the country. It also gave T.J. a chance to trade racing stories back stage with IRL driver Danica Patrick and NASCAR's Tony Stewart.

"Having a chance to meet Danica and Tony for a few moments back stage was fun," T.J. explained. "There are a lot of differences in how we each get a race car down the track, but in the end, we all just want to compete and drive fast."

The highlight of the evening came when Zizzo had a chance to meet many of managers in attendance during the autograph portion of the event. "It's a great opportunity to meet these team members," Zizzo said. "We're not just a racing team with an PEAK and O'Reilly decal on our car - we're a customer too. I think a lot of the managers were surprised to learn that we purchase a lot of items from our local O'Reilly store for not only our race team, but our auto body shop as well."

Photos from the event can me found in the Zizzo Racing Photo Gallery.

Zizzo would face Cory McClenathan in round one of eliminations. Both teams experienced tire shake, McClenathan with the lessor of the two got the win and moved on to round two.

"It was a tricky situation," Zizzo said. "The cooler overcast conditions on Monday were like nothing any of us had seen all weekend. I think the track was a lot tighter than anyone thought it would be."

The O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals marked the fifth and final race of 2009 for Zizzo Racing.

"We had a great time meeting O'Reilly team members during the PEAK promotions," Zizzo said. "It's always fun to be a part of and we hope we get a chance race and represent them in the future."

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- For the Zizzo Racing team, Memphis is as good a place as any other - maybe better. The same is true for T.J. Zizzo, pilot of the PEAK, HERCULINER / O'Reilly Top Fuel Dragster. 

The O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals has been a regular stop for the Chicago area native during his drag racing career and it's a place that brings back found memories for Zizzo.  "In the late 90's I made my first five second pass in drag racing at Memphis Motorsports Park," Zizzo explained. "Memphis has been a place that we've always done well at and thankfully, I've never seen Elvis at 1,000 feet. We've had good races here in our Alcohol Dragster and our Top Fuel Dragster and we love getting some great BBQ on Beele Street. It's one of those places on the schedule that you mark early." 

Qualifying for the 22nd annual O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals begins Friday and continues Saturday (October 2-3) with eliminations on Sunday (October 4). ESPN2 coverage begins Saturday night with the qualifying show (10:30PM EST) with the eliminations show beginning Sunday at 7:00PM EST. 

DALLAS -- The 20th stop of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series took Zizzo Racing's PEAK, HERCULINER / O'Reilly Top Fuel team to the Texas Motorplex where T.J. Zizzo, team driver made his first ever appearance.

"What a great place to race," Zizzo explained post race from his Chicago area race shop. "We met a lot of great fans and made some new friends along the way. There's nothing quite like NHRA Drag Racing and the loyalty and camaraderie those fans bring with them to a race."

For Zizzo, the racing proved to be just as fun. The team proved they were up for the task during their third appearance of the season. His qualifying effort of 3.992 seconds at 307 mph would be good enough to secure the 14 qualifying position. It also aligned him for another showdown with multi-time champion Tony Schumacher. Schumacher would prove to be Zizzo's nemesis again, but that would prove to be true of the entire field as Schumacher would go on to win the event and take over the points lead with just four races remaining.

"Overall it was a good weekend. We left Dallas and we didn't hurt any parts. That's a big plus," Zizzo said. "After the race I sent Tony a text message and congratulated him on the win. I'm trying to see if we can get together one weekend and take our kids to Chuck-E-Cheese's. Maybe I can take him in a game of skeet ball."

Memphis Tennessee is the next stop for Zizzo Racing. Qualifying for the 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals begins at the Memphis Motorsports Park this Friday.

MADISON, Ill.  - T.J. Zizzo made the best of his qualifying effort, taking his 11th position into a first round showdown with the number 6 qualifier, Shawn Langdon. Zizzo was anxious to make a good showing in his first outing of the season with his PEAK / O'Reilly Top Fuel Dragster. Maybe a little too anxious.

"I just wanted to bring my reaction time average down a little," Zizzo joked about his red light start in round one action at the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals. "Honestly, I know Langdon is good on the tree and I know he has a good car. So, I knew if we were going to have a chance at beating him I needed to take a shot at it [the tree]."

As it turned out, Langdon put together a stellar performance in the match up, posting a 3.886 second pass at 311.05 mph. "It would have taken a perfect light to make a race of it," Zizzo said. "I'm proud of our team's effort. We're looking forward to our next race."

MADISON, Ill.  - T.J. Zizzo piloted the PEAK / O'Reilly Top Fuel Dragster to the 11th spot for tomorrow's elimination rounds at the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals. Zizzo Racing secured their position during the Saturday afternoon qualifying session when they recorded a 3.969 second elapsed time at 297.16 mph. Friday's qualifying sessions were canceled for weather.

If the shortened qualifying session worried Zizzo, it didn't show. "On the first pass we went out there pretty aggressive," Zizzo said. "We had tire shake and then it shook some more and then it just went into [tire] smoke. I probably should have peddled it - I think it would have went down the track."

The second and final attempt to make the field is where Zizzo posted his best numbers of the weekend. "We just backed the tune-up down to get it down the track," Zizzo continued. "We'll try it again tomorrow."

  

Elimination rounds begin at 11:00 AM (CST) with ESPN2 coverage scheduled from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM (ET) Sunday evening. Visit NHRA.com for more details.