MESA, Ariz. — Living up to his self-proclaimed nickname of “super part-timer,” Lincolnshire, Ill., NHRA Top Fuel racer T.J. Zizzo swept qualifying sessions at his home-state races, in May at Joliet (near Chicago) and in September at Madison (downstate near St. Louis).

“Our all-volunteer team, we compete out here because we love the sport of NHRA drag racing. We’ve come out here and qualified No. 1 twice now,” he said. “I know nobody is going to believe me, but we should have been No. 1 qualifier at the U.S. Nationals, too. We had a blower belt come off, and we were far ahead of Brittany Force before that happened. We switched blower belts, went to a different manufacturer and here we are, No. 1 qualifier again.”