T.J. Zizzo Indianapolis Saturday report

Temps in the 100s, Zizzo’s in the .90s at Indy

T. J.. Zizzo in his Peak Performance Top Fuel Dragster

Photo by: Ted Rossino

CLERMONT, Ind. – After running what he called “license runs” in the first two rounds of qualifying here, TJ Zizzo and the PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner NHRA Full Throttle Series Top Fuel team took advantage of falling temps Saturday evening, putting a 3.919 ET on the board at 301.27 mph. His first pass of the day, run on a 130+ degree track, was a 4.198 second lap, only slightly better than the 4.21 he ran Friday night on an equally greasy track.

“A much better run tonight,” Zizzo said after the third qualifying round of the 57th Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. “Those first two runs felt like licensing runs, but that last one, I drove my butt off. We knew he had to lay down a strong lap with the possibility of weather tomorrow and my team put a great PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner dragster under me for that final run.”

The run was the fifth-quickest of the round, behind Del Worsham (3.876), Spencer Massey (3.875), Tony Schumacher (3.856), and Antron Brown’s 3.818 that put him at the top of the qualifying ladder going into Sunday’s final qualifying rounds.

The Chicago native is solidly in the top-12 in ninth while some of the biggest names in the sport, including Doug Kalitta who Zizzo beat on a holeshot in Rd. 1 of eliminations last year. Zizzo knows, however, to get to Monday the team has to get through Sunday. “Nothing’s guaranteed yet,” he said. “We made a good pass, but with the conditions we’re expecting tomorrow, that .91 may not be as good as it is right now.

“We still have two more rounds to go. If we’re still in the top-12 tomorrow at this time, I’ll be happy. Until then, nothing’s guaranteed.”