Hello to all of my NHRA blog fans.  I hope all is well and you enjoyed your holidays with family and friends. Wow, I can’t believe it’s March already! Where does the time go?  I apologize for the delay, I have a tendency to over think my blog and not put my finger tips to the keyboard quick enough.  This new format you are about to read should allow me to write blogs more frequently.   Also, sub captions will make my blog easier to read and quicker for me to pull together.  As any racer knows, time is of essence.

It’s time to feed the beast

Here’s the thing about a Top Fuel dragster…it’s a hungry 2,320 pound beast and our dragster’s appetite for parts is never ending.  In fact, ours is actually a little heavier than most and something our team has been working to address.

This week alone we’ve received many boxes containing shiny new parts and more are on their way. This got me thinking…it has been like Christmas morning for the past two months at the shop. At this point I realize that some things will have to be shipped directly to the track!  I have my fingers crossed that we will get everything needed before firing the car up in Gainesville.  It will even feel like Christmas morning at the track.  Christmas and palm trees in Florida doesn’t get any better than that!

Semi ready for Gainesville

The Zizzo Racing semi trailer leaves for Gainesville, Florida in just a few days. My Dad (and team owner) will be driving the trailer. It looks really sharp!  We like the full graphics wrap and the way our marketing partner’s logos have been being incorporated. 

The time before our first race is always our busiest and most stressful time of the year. The Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals is our first race of the season and is always the most intense to prepare for. There’s a great deal of technical work required of the team and no matter what, we always wish that we had a little more time to prepare.

 I love fan mail

I receive a lot of fan mail and I often send a hand written reply back.  It means a great deal to have fan support and I’m thankful for it. Without fans, Zizzo Racing and NHRA would not exist. I get a rush every time I’m at a race and get to meet with fans. That’s why I always spend quality time signing autographs at the ropes and sharing updates on Facebook and Twitter.

I’ve got people now

My dad and I had our meeting at Misix, Inc. headquarters.  Our marketing partners at Misix unveiled the new website for us. It is a hotrod!  It is classy and I keep visiting it a few times each day.  Have you seen it? Check out www.zizzoracing.com.  They did an awesome job.  MISIX and Zizzo Racing have been working together since last July and we’re really seeing the benefits of our work to activate the brand.  They are taking us to a whole new level and it was nice to see my Dad's eyes light up when he saw how many people (team mates) we have at MISIX working on Zizzo Racing. Who knew I would one day have my own branded logo!  A year from now we will be at a level I never dreamed we could attain.  I have been doing my own marketing for years, but now I have "people!"  They rock!

Tuesday night = shop night 

On February 28th, the team assembled at the shop to work on the engines. Meanwhile, I was enjoying a dinner with Old World Industries, LLC (PEAK) and one of their buyers.  We had a blast, I can't say enough about our great relationship with them.  They have stood behind us for nine years and our relationship continues to grow.  We continually aim to do a great job for them on and off the track.  I see a bright future ahead. 

Celebrity readers day

I visited Fairhaven elementary school in Mundelein for Celebrity Readers Day.  I brought my two favorite books:  Little Turtles Big Adventure and No Roses for Hairy.  These are books my Mom used to read to me and I now read them to my kids.

One man’s used parts; another man’s treasure

There’s a collector’s market for used Top Fuel dragster parts. I have a friend that sells Zizzo Racing’s parts on eBay so that we can fulfill fan demand while putting dollars back into the dragster. This week a lot of parts were signed, sealed and delivered.  I am thankful for the fans that support us with their hard earned money when they purchase items on eBay.  If you are curious to learn more, just type in Zizzo Racing in eBay’s search box and you will find your way to a plethora of memorabilia.  Every dollar we receive is filtered right back into the car, and for those who purchase parts, I thank you.

I can hardly wait to race in Gainesville. I’m excited, focused and really ready.  I know the 2012 season will be my year. I can’t wait to see how the season plays out.

Oh and how could I forget?  If you are not already, remember to keep up with me on Twitter (@TJZIZZO) and at Facebook.com/tjzizzo.

Look forward to seeing you at the races! 

Maddie and Nick love going to the track to watch Grandpa drive.

He is almost ready!

First and foremost I would like to reintroduce myself. My name is TJ Zizzo and I drive the PEAK Motor Oil Top Fuel dragster. I live drag racing 24 hours a day and that is why you have not heard from me in a few months. That may sound contradicting, but I will try to explain where I have been in the paragraphs that follow. It is 3 a.m. right now and I AM BACK!

I have been “off in the shunts” the past few months. If you are asking yourself, “What did I just read?” don’t be alarmed. A friend of mine, whom I have not spoken to in a while, said that phrase a lot. It basically means things are close, but not quite correct. He does not know it, but he taught me a lot when I was growing up at his machine shop working on my dad’s Top Alcohol Dragster. He is one of those guys everyone respected, but one day he just vanished. He sold his part of the business and walked away. From what I know, he and his wife set themselves up for a simpler life in Wisconsin.

Maddie and my mom cruising in the yard

Anyway, back to my story (Jack Beckman was telling me earlier this year that I have a tendency to jump around in my blog. Sorry, Jack, I am doing it again!) Recently, I noticed I have not been able to accomplish everything that I wanted to on a daily basis. I worked hard, but I felt overwhelmed. Finally, a week ago I woke up at 6 a.m. and I felt like myself again. My mind was clear and I was ready to rock and roll. 

I have come to the conclusion that I have worked hard my entire life. I was five years old when I painted my first Tonka Truck and I have not stopped since. I played hard as a kid and performed chores to my parents’ high standards. I worked long hours through high school and college. After I graduated from college, I continued the same work ethic. Although I will never admit it, working long hours can eventually catch up.

I was not physically worn out this time, I was mentally worn out. In my life, I have been physically worn out. That is easy: get a few good night’s rests and before you know it, you are back in the swing of things. This time I was mentally worn out. I felt like I needed a break. Although I did not physically take a break, mentally I was not as productive as I usually am. Thankfully, it only lasted a short time.

Right now, I feel better than ever and invigorated. I wake up alive and ready to take on my “to do” list (my Post It notes that are on my desk). I also noticed I am getting things accomplished again. My list of things to do is getting smaller and my mind is not as cluttered. I needed a little time to slow things up and reevaluate.

Positively speaking, we had another successful year. We qualified at every event we attended and the car ran well. We look like a million bucks! Dollar for dollar, I think we blow the competition out of the water.

Some of our team members feasting on a great meal from Taylor Shellfish Farms.

I had the pleasure working with great people this year. I have learned that if you surround yourself with better people than yourself there is no way to fail.  Speaking of great people, it was a pleasure working with Kenny Youngblood all year. He is great for the sport and his paintings speak for themselves.

Even through the last few months I have been overwhelmed, the truth is our team has made great strides. I apologize to all the readers that look forward to reading this blog every few weeks. I am back on track.

I can’t wait to get started for 2012. I also will make sure to conquer that Post It note that reads: BLOG! The last one was very worn out. It had been moved around my desk and onto my computer many times. That Post It even traveled across the US with me. I wish I had a picture of it to show you how worn out it was.

It feels great to write again. I really enjoy it and it is therapeutic. I may not be a perfect writer, but I write as I speak. I have learned to write a lot, then go back and edit when I finally exhausted all my thoughts for that period of time. I remember the first time I wrote a blog for NHRA, it took me forever. I was concerned about every key stroke. Now I just punch at the keyboard and go back and edit.

We are always promoting NHRA Drag Racing.

Make sure that you have two things under the tree this year for that special person in your life: a case of PEAK Motor Oil and a piece of art painted by Kenny Youngblood.

Things are progressing so watch out in 2012. ZIZ is back!

As a side note, my son just woke up and was calling for me. When I got into his bedroom, he said his neck hurt. I examined it and saw that the left side was really swollen. All the “things” I was concerned about while typing this did not matter anymore; my kid was the priority at that point. The internet is awesome. I Googled “swollen neck” and bingo, just a swollen lymph node.  I gave him a little Ibuprofen (pink yummies as my kids call them) and good to go. Piece of cake! Although I will be calling the doc when the sun comes up!

As always, try to keep up with me on: Facebook (TJ Zizzo, Zizzo Racing), Twitter (@TJZizzo, @ZizzoRacing), YouTube.com/TJZizzo, Zizzo Racing/Ebay.com, PeakAuto.com and ZizzoRacing.com.

God bless!
 

A great team in action at Route 66 Raceway.

Joe Cluts and Rick Messmore enjoying the day.

I love washing all our teams uniforms by hand. That is TLC!

Tony Smith is the man. 20 years with Zizzo Racing. There is no way we could have done all this without him.

I really enjoy educating children on drag racing.

There was a time in my life when I poured myself a tall glass of orange juice to start every day. Those were the days when putting on a helmet and stomping on the gas was a major part of my job description. Now I need a cup of coffee in the morning to get me going. With age and experience, I now have a new group of responsibilities and challenges, but driving is still one of them. What’s next? Full Throttle all day long!

I often joke with our team. I tell them that driving our PEAK Motor Oil/Herculiner Top Fuel dragster is the least of my worries all weekend long. I say that jokingly because truthfully, it is still the most important thing I do all weekend long. I proved that this year in Houston! I turned on the red light (badly) and felt terrible for a long time.

Driving is still a challenge. After driving a dragster for 20-plus years you would think driving would get easier. That is true in a sense that experience is gained, but as the team gets better the driver needs to be that much better and more. Just look at Top Fuel; the competition is ferocious. In my eight year career in Top Fuel, I have never seen it so competitive on race day.

Keeping the car on all fours and turning on win lights is what I do. When my crew chief, Mike Kern, spins the starter over and my dad pulls the coil wires, that car is all mine. At that point the car is assembled to perfection and the tune up is decided. The only one that can screw it up is me; it’s just me and that machine.

Going back to my earlier sentence, driving is still the most important thing I will do all weekend. Sure, getting potential marketing partners to the track and entertaining new partnerships is a high priority but at the end of the day, my job is to drive that car.

After my mistake in Houston, we had a team meeting. The team came to the conclusion that I need to give myself more than the motion of putting on my fire suit and helmet to prepare for a pass. They asked that I take 15 minutes to think and prepare for the run before I climb into the car. I was hesitant at first, but ultimately they were correct! I always have been one of those people that think of other people first and on occasion that has exhausted me mentally and physically. Now I give myself a little more time to enjoy the moment.

Our team is very unique. We work twice as hard because our entire team has a job to go to on Monday morning. When we are at the track, fans do not believe me when I tell them that our team members have other jobs, too. I usually go on to explain our work environment at the shop as well. I also talk about how we choose to do that now so we can continue to invest in equipment and inventory. If we had to spend our resources on a mortgage, we could not compete at the level in which we are currently. I can’t bring a utility bill or a mortgage payment to our current marketing partners and explain to them why we did not perform to the level in which they are accustomed to. Instead as a team we invest in technology and purchase better parts.

Trust me, working in a confined area is not what I want to do for the rest of my career, but it is what we are doing now to survive. Do not think for even a minute that I can’t wait to give our team members (including myself and my dad) the option and ask them if they want to work on a Top Fuel car full time, but right now it is not in the cards. We are able to pay all their expenses and they are included in a bonus program which is better than we were able to do just a few years ago. We are on the correct path. As a team, we are in better shape than we have been but my goal is to be able to offer each and every person on our team a full time gig. They deserve it.

We have learned so much as a team in the past eight years since we joined the Top Fuel class In the NHRA Full Throttle Series that it would take hundreds of pages to describe all the sacrifices that each team member has made for our team. Every time we assemble at the shop, I always thank them for their commitment and dedication. I know if it were not for their hard work and dedication, Zizzo Racing would not be at the level we are at today.

I see where this sport has gone and a few people can’t do it all. It takes an army of great people. I am very proud of our entire team! They care about me and I care about them. I am surrounded by a great group of people who breathe nitro.

As always, try to keep up with me on: Facebook (TJ Zizzo, Zizzo Racing), Twitter (@TJZizzo, @ZizzoRacing), YouTube.com/TJZizzo, PeakAuto.com and ZizzoRacing.com.

God bless!
 

Full Throttle is my beverage of choice while on a nonstop, 24 road trip at 2 in the morning.

After a hard days work some of our team members indulged in a margarita.

"Freak" and I were hanging out at the starting line party at RT 66. He loves the sport of drag racing!

Here are my kids on the roller coaster at the festival. Of coarse the little speed demons were on the first car.

Ronald McDonald and I hanging out at a Ronald McDonald House Charities event. I'm Lovin' It!

That desk is where all the "magic" happens!

It’s late at night and my family is sleeping up a storm. I had a great Saturday. My 4-year-old son climbed up the steps early this morning and wanted to go to the “big” McDonald's. That is code for the Oasis McDonald's on I-94. I was happy to start my day, so I got him dressed and we ran out of the house.

The weather in the Chicago area this year has been less than desirable, but this morning was beautiful. We have had only 10 nice days this year and that may be a high estimate. We hopped in the car, jumped on the toll way and headed to the “big” Mickey D’s.

We enjoyed our breakfast overlooking the toll way. I explained to him that we are very lucky to live in a country where we can hit the road, end up thousands of miles away and not be hassled crossing borders. After we talked politics and enjoyed seeing some “race trailers” drive under us we were out of there.

I ran home to deliver breakfast in bed to my wife and daughter, and then I ran to our body shop. I had a part to unmask and drop off at a local mechanical shop that refers customers to our shop. It was now 8:30 a.m., and I had to get to a meeting. It was a marketing meeting, which lasted until just after noon. Zizzo Racing is about to make a move in a positive direction!

I had to run back to the shop to pick up my dad and Cathie because they were boarding a plane to Sicily to pick up my ailing grandma. They will only be away for a total of four days, but at this point before Joliet it might as well be two weeks. My grandma has become ill, and she is not able to care for herself at this time, so my dad and his brother are going to take her to a doctor in the States to help provide some comfort for her. Socialized medicine is great until you need to use it! Doctors do not seem to go above and beyond over there. They give you a few drops of a “special” liquid that you put in your tea and tell you there is “nothing more we can do, you are getting old.” Enough with the politics.

Anyway, I ran my dad and Cathie to the airport and ran back to the shop where TS (clutch specialist Tony Smith) was working on clutch parts and preparing them for Joliet. I spoke to him for a few minutes then I was off to my house. I told my wife I would be home by 1:45 to take my family to a pool party. Of course, I was a little late. My wife always asks me why I am always a few minutes late. I explain to her that I try to do in one day what most people do in two days.

I ran upstairs, ripped off my “meeting clothes” and tossed on my bathing suit and a T-shirt, jumped into her car and we were off. I could tell she was disappointed we were going to be a little late to the party, but as I say she still likes me, but I do not think she loves me anymore. Speaking of love we just celebrated our 10-year anniversary. I told her on our honeymoon that if she could put up with me for 10 years I would do something special for her, so I took her to On the Border (a national restaurant chain). Yep, I am a romantic!

We got to the pool party and I enjoyed a few hours with my family and friends. We went down the water slides and floated down the lazy river. My kids loved it! After cake and more swimming we decided to go to my mom’s house. There was a festival in her town and I love summer festivals. They are great places to people watch and where else can you go and spend one dollar a minute on games and rides. Well, I guess it is more economical than $12,000 in 3.8 seconds for my ride. After spending 60 dollars in 60 minutes, we walked to a local park where my kids made note that the park was more fun than the festival. Go figure!

We went back to my mom’s house, relaxed for a little while, then drove home. Both of our kids proceeded to pass out on our way home. I did not have much to eat since the “big” McDonald's at seven in the morning… although I did have a few bites of my kids' food at the pool party. My wife and I put the kids to bed and I cleaned the litter boxes and some hair balls (puke) from our cats. We have four cats at our house, and they are a lot of work. Maybe in a later blog I can explain how four cats came to fruition. All I need to say is always ask for your wife’s permission on anything that is “permanent.”

My wife and I finally sat down for dinner. After that I had a choice — go to bed or start typing. I decided to start typing. Right now I have the best of both worlds. I have qualifying from Norwalk playing on my DVR and I am typing this blog. So… If this does not read well, or seems to be all over the map that is because I stopped to watch my favorite program on TV. I apologize!

So here I am on a Saturday night/Early Sunday morning typing this, and I will be getting up early for a celebrity guest appearance at a Ronald McDonald House charities event in the morning. After that I will go to the shop and meet with the team. We are working hard to make sure we have a great outing at Route 66 Raceway, our home track!

As always, try to keep up with me on: Facebook (TJ Zizzo, Zizzo Racing), Twitter (@TJZizzo, @ZizzoRacing), YouTube.com/TJZizzo, PeakAuto.com and ZizzoRacing.com.

God bless!