For the last several years, veteran Top Fuel owner/driver T.J. Zizzo has competed on a limited NHRA schedule on his own terms.

Well, Zizzo is stepping outside his comfort zone and is competing at the NHRA Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas Friday through Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The last time Zizzo competed in Vegas was in 2017.

“I'm in this semi and I'm wondering that, right? We were just talking about just the logistics of getting to races, and we've taken for granted just the short jaunts we've done in the past six years,” Zizzo said. “When you hit the road and you got a long way ahead of you... you're wondering why you're doing it. Literally. This year we're doing it because we're going to show our second dragster at SEMA, for Rust-Oleum. So, we'll have a car on the racetrack for Rust-Oleum, and we'll also have a car in the display at SEMA. It should be exciting. ... Who doesn't like going to Vegas?”

The SEMA Show takes place Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“Every team member is jacked to go (to Vegas), maybe besides one or two that don't like to fly,” Zizzo said. “But their spouses are coming, my wife is coming, one of my kids is coming. We've got friends, and family who want to go, so it's probably another reason that we're enjoying going to SEMA, or going to Vegas, because not only SEMA but because our team members love it. I mean, the sun's shining, it's consistent weather. All those things play into kind of where we go.

“We don't go to a race any more just to race. We have to find something that we like to do while we're at the event. It's just too much work to just go to an event. There's not enough time in the day to do everything you want to do while you're out racing. First, you have a free air show, right? I mean, that's super cool. You have palm trees, and it's clean. Certainly, the facility itself is a reason to go.”

 

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This is Zizzo’s fifth race of 2023. He last competed at St. Louis on Oct. 1. He has a 2-3 elimination round record on the strength of reaching the semifinals in Chicago.

Now, Zizzo is in the spoiler role which is something he doesn’t relish. Leah Pruett is leading the Top Fuel points standings four points in front of Doug Kalitta and 13 points in front of Steve Torrence.

“Some of those people at the top, right? I think about our history. Some of those people at the top, helped us try to achieve getting to the top,” Zizzo said. “So, it kind of pulls at my heartstrings because... we're there to compete and we're there to do the best we can. So that's where being a spoiler is enjoyable, but I also would hate to ruin their championship goals.

“But that's the way this points structure is set up. I mean, it kind of sucks that those guys going after a championship have to not only worry about the 12 people that show up to go after that championship, but then they got to worry about people like us. People that really come out here to compete at that level, just don't do it often.”

Although offers a plethora of things to do outside the racetrack, Zizzo said his schedule is simple.

“I mean, just truly staying on The Strip is enough for all of us,” he said. “I mean, we stay on The Strip and there's enough entertainment just in watching people. That's entertainment enough for us.”

Zizzo did acknowledge his team is gambling a little bit by racing in Vegas.

“We are going almost three-quarters the way across the country to try brand new cylinder heads that we have never run before,” Zizzo said. “I really did want to bring all our cylinder heads with us... just in case, but I was denied on that, plus we don't have enough space or weight in our semi for them. So, we are taking a huge gamble in going all the way to Las Vegas to try out brand-new parts, but we've been doing that all year long. Every race there has been something new because we were a decade or a decade and a half behind on everything.

“We're almost caught up; we almost have the same equipment as the competitor next to us. Really, we're closer than we've ever been in our career.”