MADISON, Ill.—A race that was a last-minute decision when his season was supposed to end after the US Nationals turned into a career weekend for TJ Zizzo. The Chicagoland native laid down a pass of 3.769 seconds at 329.75 mph, that speed being a personal best, in the first round of eliminations in Sunday’s AAA NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Unfortunately, No. 3 qualifier Austin Prock was .02 seconds quicker than the Rust-Oleum Rocket and put Zizzo Racing on the truck after a solid weekend despite the loss.

“If you’re going to lose, you should lose that way,” said Zizzo after the round. “The round of first round, I believe. Tight racing, good drivers, both with good reaction times, both having a good side-by-side run. Even Austin Prock said at the top end ‘That’ll be the one they’ll talk about!’ It was close.”

Losing isn’t fun, especially when it’s the last race of the season. However, Zizzo recognizes the team took a large step forward this weekend, making the unexpected trip to St. Louis worth it.

“Unfortunately, we were on the losing side of that, but to go out with a career-best run, everything looks good,” he said. “Everything we wanted to accomplish, well, you never accomplish everything you want to at a race, but we accomplished most of what we wanted to accomplish here. That’s important for our team. That’s important for our team to sit idle in the winter time feeling good about themselves.

“Anytime we leave with a career-best run or career-best speed, the winter goes well and we come out swinging again.”

By The Numbers:

Q1: 5.540 seconds at 119.33 mph
Q2: 3.900 seconds at 261.07 mph
Q3: 3.805 seconds at 324.28 mph
Q4: 3.791 seconds at 323.43 mph

E1: 3.769 seconds at 329.75 mph (loss to Austin Prock)