TJ Zizzo and the Zizzo Racing Rust-Oleum Top Fuel dragster are back in action this weekend at the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, and the veteran driver is looking to end his 2025 season on a high note.

This will be Zizzo’s third race of the season, and while his team doesn’t run a full schedule, they’ve built a reputation for bringing full-time intensity every time they unload. They’re hunting for Zizzo’s first career NHRA national event win this weekend, and making that happen at St. Louis would be huge.

“St. Louis is a special track for our team. We’ve had success here before, and we would love to get our very first race win here, when we’re only a few hours away from home,” said Zizzo. “It’s not as close as Joliet, Illinois, but we love coming here. The fans are so passionate and supportive, and many of them have been coming and cheering us on for years.”

Zizzo Racing proved its mettle earlier this month at the U.S. Nationals, qualifying third in a stacked Top Fuel field. A parts failure in round one ended their day early against Jasmine Salinas, but the performance showed the team can run with anyone. Heading into St. Louis, Zizzo says the focus is on turning qualifying speed into race day wins.

“Every time we’re knocked out when we weren’t expecting it, it’s a learning opportunity,” said Zizzo. “Parts break, random things happen, and if you don’t know how to roll with the punches, this isn’t the sport for you. We’ve been working hard in the shop to make sure what happened in Indy doesn’t happen again in St. Louis. That’s why I am feeling confident we will competitively qualify and make it far on Sunday, representing Rust-Oleum well.”

The family-owned, part-time operation has made major upgrades in recent years. A new chassis, along with a deeper parts inventory, has been acquired. The team still continues to lean on the experience of crew chief Mike Kern and technical consultant Rahn Tobler. The mostly volunteer crew puts in countless hours fine-tuning their 12,000-horsepower dragster, and their results continue to get the attention of full-time teams.

“It’s extremely flattering to know that these full-time guys are paying attention to what we’re doing,” said Zizzo. “They know we don’t come to mess around, and that we have a solid chance of qualifying better than them and besting them on Sunday. Even though we’re not racing a full schedule, we take each race we do enter in extremely seriously. Hours spent in the shop, sleepless nights thinking about how we can improve our operation. All in pursuit of winning that Wally.”

This weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, Zizzo will be looking to play spoiler in the NHRA Countdown, and maybe, just maybe, check off that long-awaited first Top Fuel victory.