TJ ZIZZO CREWMAN OPATRNY GETS LICENSED IN TOP FUEL

by Tracy Renck    Thu, 2021-04-29 22:50

 

 

Ambition is not a problem for Jake Opatrny.

Opatrny had zero family ties to the sport of drag racing yet he went from a fan of the sport to a licensed Top Fuel driver.

Opatrny received his Top Fuel license at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 19. He made one half-track pass and two full passes to get his license.

Opatrny said he clocked 3.95 and 3.94-second full laps, both over 300 mph. 

He was piloting a dragster owned by Del Worsham. Worsham and Jeff Arend signed off on Opatrny’s license.

“It was a very satisfying and exhilarating learning experience,” said Opatrny, 26. “The faster you go the more the world slows down. My first hit in the car, getting to the eighth-mile, wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, but as soon as I got past half-track, I realized how crazy Top Fuel really is. I had to do the full run in order to get the full respect for the machine and the class that it is.”

Before Opatrny climbed into the cockpit of Worsham’s Top Fuel dragster, his only other racing experience was going to Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School.

“I did the Super Comp program for the first time at his school in 2017,” Opatrny said. “The two following years after that I made a few runs at his school. I was talking about making runs in one of his alcohol cars for a while. I just grew tired of talking. Talk is cheap. You have to just do it. Then, I made some runs in one of his alcohol cars in Bradenton (Fla.) in March of 2021. I made five runs. Frank said I drove the car very well and did a great job.”

Opatrny’s entry into the drag racing world came by chance.

“I asked around the pits for a long time where do I go for my Top Fuel license and I walked up to (T.J.) Zizzo’s pit in 2019, and they told me to go talk to the Laganas and let me know what they say,” Opatrny said. “I talked to the Laganas and they said they didn’t think they were going to license people anymore and thanks for stopping by. I went back to the Zizzo pit and Tony Zizzo told me to give him my number and said he would call me if he needed help.

“A week goes by and the following Thursday I get a call from Tony Zizzo and he said to me ‘Hey kid, if you want to drive one of these things you might as well start rolling with our team. That way you will understand how one (a Top Fuel dragster) functions and you will learn what they want. Tony was essentially slowing me down to make sure this is what I really wanted to do.”

The Zizzo’s have run a limited schedule the past two seasons and Opatrny was part of the team’s crew.

“What compelled me to make the decision to get my license in a Top Fuel dragster was after watching the sport, biding my time, saving my money, and predicting when I could possibly have the chance to get involved in the sport, I said to myself, you have the money and now is the perfect time,” Opatrny said. “Getting my license was the easy part. Given my limited racing experience, I knew that I was taking a risk getting into that car because anybody who gets in a nitro car doesn’t have the slightest comprehension of what they are doing. The only thing that will prepare you for a nitro car is a nitro car.”

Opatrny’s day job is an operating engineer with the International Union of Engineers Local 150 based out of the northern Illinois district. He’s also ready to take the next step to compete in an NHRA race.

“I’m going to try to send some sponsorship proposals out and let people know what I’m about and what I want to do,” Opatrny said. “I have the easiest part knocked out of the way, that’s getting my license. The other 99 percent of racing is the business aspect of it and finding the money I need to go racing. I have an idea I want to try out and I have some people I want to talk to about it. I’m going to reach out to them to see if they want to do this with me. If not, I will keep making phone calls and everything to see if I can establish a connection with a company or potential sponsor that will want to go racing with me. I want to race to prove that I belong in that community.  It is my calling and I feel like I’m obligated to answer my calling.”

 

 

 

 
Categories: 
:::::: News ::::::