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The 2022/23 Australian Top Doorslammer Championship will long be remembered as one of extreme highs and the lowest of lows. For John Zappia, that pattern firmly applied to Nitro Up North at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Drag Strip. Qualifying was a mixed bag for the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Monaro, with the first session producing instant tyre spin, while the second yielded the quickest pass of the night.
“We left the car with the same tune up as we had in Sydney for our first pass, figuring the weather would take out the power needed,” Zappia explained. “We blew the tyres off right at the hit. We weren’t the only ones though, with Kelvin Lyle the only racer to get down the track in that session. “We backed the car way down for the second qualifying session and this time the car left well with a 0.956 60 foot time. I feathered the throttle a little to get the front end down and carried on to a 5.72/248mph. That pass earned us the Crow Cams Top Qualifier Award for which we were very thankful.” Race day beckoned and the Zappia Racing team decided that they would stay with much the same setup, with more heat in the air sapping the horsepower levels. Taking on local Matt Abel in the first round, Zappia led the race from the start, despite the return of a mystery electrical problem.
“We thought we had that cutout issue solved, but sure enough it misfired four times and knocked our ET down to a 5.85. The good news was my reaction time, a 0.036, which was my best since changing to the auto.” In round two, Zappia took a solo pass. The misfires went away as mysteriously as they reappeared, and a 5.72/249mph had the team confident for the final round against Kelvin Lyle. As delays affected the night’s racing, the track was covered in dew. The Top Doorslammer final was not on track until almost 11pm. The race would be one of the closest calls in Zappia’s drag racing career. “Kelvin left on me, and I had some tyre shake that I needed to pedal through. Once again my car started misfiring, but even so I felt like I was catching him. Next second, and I see Kelvin is near the centre line, then he hits the wall. We were neck and neck through the finish so I couldn’t see him for a while, then his Mustang came across right in front of me, just missing the front right corner of my car. There’s sparks flying off his car as he hits the wall on my side of the track and then continues on at speed. Meanwhile, I was on the brakes and skidding sideways to slow down. I realised I was almost out of control myself because I had panicked and over-braked. I could see him taking off into the distance so I regained composure and was directed off the track. “From that time on, all of us were concerned about Kelvin. He uses our ZR1 engine so our teams are very close. We just had to wait as the safety crews did their job. It was a very sombre time as we waited for news about him.” Though Zappia had the win, it wasn’t a night for celebration. Combined with a crash earlier in the night from Lisa Gregorini, the whole Top Doorslammer field were simply hoping the worst news had passed. Kelvin’s partner Shaniah announced that Kelvin was awake, alert and in good spirits despite being in incredible pain. The Zappia Racing team wishes nothing but the best for Kelvin in his recovery. As the off-season begins, Zappia Racing will begin preparing for the new National Drag Racing Championship, scheduled to begin at the brand-new facility at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia on the 21-22 October 2023. “Thanks to all of our sponsors for being a part of our campaign this season. Congratulations to Kelvin on winning the championship — something that can never be taken away from him. There were many successful events around the country, punctuated by some of the deepest lows we have known in this sport. Let’s hope that the 2023/24 season with the fresh National Drag Racing Championship will be one we can remember for all the right reasons.” A huge thank you to our sponsors who make this all possible. Joint Naming Rights sponsors Dananni Hotshots and FUCHS Lubricants, Major sponsors Crow Cams, WA Bolts, Tony’s Auto Wreckers, WA Suspensions, Callies Cranks, Motec, Hoosier Racing Tire, Noonan Ultimate Race Engineering, Striker Crushing and Screening, B&J Transmissions and all the supporting sponsors Alky Pro, K-Craft Bullbars, Santhuff Shocks, B&J Racing Transmissions, Avtrac Maintenance Tracking, Taylor Tyres Pty Ltd, Kounis Metal Industries, Competition and Industrial Coatings, Reid Machine, Final Drive Engineering, Aurora Bearings, SDS Fuel Systems, Total Seal Piston Rings, Victory 1 Performance, and Applied Automotive Performance Engines. Also a big thanks you to all the tracks, track staff, volunteers and especially all our fans and supporters.

While he won’t be taking home another Australian championship this season, John Zappia has successfully moved his Dananni Hotshots / Fuchs Lubricants Monaro to the next generation of transmission technology, with near best-ever numbers recorded at the Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway. Zappia approached the Sydney round with an open mind, recognising that championship leader Kelvin Lyle would need a disaster of an event to alter the points chase. That would not happen, but for Zappia that would be okay. “You look at the Nitro Champs from the outside and you might think we’d be disappointed, but it’s important to recognise where this season started,” he said. “For the many decades of racing we have done, we’ve always had a clutch pedal. We made the shift to the auto because we could see the generational change that had occurred. That’s huge, both in terms of car setup and my driving. “There wasn’t a big trophy at the end of the Nitro Champs and sure, we would have liked more win lights, but the event was successful in other ways.” Zappia started qualifying at the Nitro Champs with the same tune from his recent 5.61 run in Perth, but the cool May air at Sydney Dragway saw the Dananni Hotshots / Fuchs Lubricants Monaro overpower the track for a 5.90/255mph. “We knew the power was there with that speed,” Zappia said. For the second qualifying session, the car dead-hooked early in the run and needed a quick pedal to get through tyre shake, but the result was an impressive 5.642/257mph to earn the Crow Cams Top Qualifier Award — putting a fresh $1000 into the team’s budget. From there racing beckoned, with Zappia up against rookie Lisa Gregorini in the first round. With Lisa having made her first five-second pass in qualifying, this would be no easy contest. “When I came into stage, I stopped a little further back from the line and it took me a while to find the staging beams,” Zappia explained. “I got distracted and missed the tree, with a 0.313 light. Lisa had a big lead early and the chase was on. At mid-track I felt my car cough and splutter a bit, cutting out the motor and coming back on. We went 5.67 to Lisa’s 5.82 but her holeshot got her the win. Congratulations to Lisa and we are sure we will have many tough battles in the future.” Back in the pits, Zappia and his team went looking for the cause of the mystery electrical gremlin. Three electric boxes were changed for the second round, but the problem remained. “We went 5.66 in the second round, but we had the same thing happening, so we changed even more electrical components for the B Final in the hopes of finding something.” Zappia took on Matt Abel for the final race. The conditions were ripe for quick runs, and the Dananni Hotshots / Fuchs Lubricants Monaro delivered with its quickest ever 60-foot time at 0.940. The car carried the front wheels before the electrical problem occurred once again, though this time it was helpful in assisting Zappia to steer back into the groove. He took it to the finish line for a 5.607/254mph win. A huge thank you to Todd Tutterow for his Ty-Drive and all his advice along the Auto journey. “That was a great run, but we also wonder what could have been,” he said. “We went 3.67 to the eighth mile. On our 5.58 run three years ago we only went 3.69. So, it was definitely a 5.57, 5.56 type of run without the electrical problem.” Zappia believes the issue may be related to the ignition kill switch, which will hopefully be an easy fix before the final round of the 2022/23 season, Nitro Up North at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Dragway in June 16-17. “I’ll be doing some practice tree work before Darwin to see if I can re-train my muscle memory — I’ve been leaving with a clutch pedal for over 30 years! I’d love to get a clean finish to the season, and we will then be preparing for the next era of Australian drag racing with the National Drag Racing Championship’s launch at Tailem Bend later in the year.” A big thank you to all our sponsors who make possible and the entire crew who work tirelessly to get the car to perform at it’s best. Also a thank you to all our friends and fans who always support us wherever we race.

The end of the Western Australian drag racing season for John Zappia didn’t quite turn out how the veteran Top Doorslammer driver wanted, but there were positives to take away from the rainy finish. In fact, the WA Drag Racing Grand Finals were shaping up with what might have been Zappia’s strongest start to an event this season, as he dropped a 5.66/253mph on his first pass of the day. “We had our B-motor in the car, and it did everything right,” he said. “The first pass used up a little bit of the lane but I was able to drive it back into the groove without having to pedal it. It was in the middle of the afternoon but we had a 0.948 60 foot time which is the quickest I have ever been. “We put a little bit more into the tune-up for the second run figuring the track would get tighter. We were right about that, but we could have done with even more power. It stuck the tyres and the 60 foot time slowed to a 0.972, so we had a 5.70 come up on the boards at the finish. The run was dead straight though and we were happy the Dananni Hotshots /Fuchs Lubricants Monaro was being such a consistent car.” At that point, some light rain began to fall and it proved enough for the Perth Motorplex management to decide to call the event off. It was a disappointing end to the Summer Slam Series, which Zappia had a chance of taking out. Thanks to Kelvin Lyle and his company Direct Mining and Industrial for his sponsorship of the series. “We were 30 points behind Daniel Gregorini, so that certainly put us within range,” he said. “While we both would have loved to race it out, you can’t do that on a wet track.” The positive for the Zappia Racing team was that they now have a race car that is behaving and responding well to setup changes, giving John some much-needed confidence ahead of the Nitro Champs at Sydney Dragway on May 5th and 6th. “We are putting our A-motor back in for Sydney, that is getting assembled right now after the quality machining by Applied Automotives. There will be new CP Carrillo rods and pistons, a new Callies crank and new Noonan heads. It’s as fresh as we can make a motor! It’s a nice feeling going to Sydney knowing that there will be two 5.6-second motors at our disposal, though of course we only hope to use one.” Zappia will be aiming to put the pressure on Kelvin Lyle in the championship fight for the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship. “We have 82 points to make up on Kelvin and just two championship rounds left to do it, Sydney and the finals in Darwin. It is Kelvin’s championship to lose right now, so we will push as hard as we can. Little points make a big difference so we will be trying to get performance bonus points while we can, while also keeping our engine in its safe and healthy zone. “I think we’ve learned from some mistakes this season. Even after over 30 years of racing Blown Doorslammers, we still learn and this season it was about finding out where the limits were.” We would like to take this opportunity to thanks all our Sponsors for supporting us throughout the WA season and we will continue to showcase their brand for the remaining two national events. Also a big thanks you to all the supporters who turn up to see us and for buying our merchandise. Fans of Zappia Racing should make sure to check out the team’s new website and the online merch store, all available at zappiaracing.com. “We have a lot of new merch up and our new website has different areas for both myself and my nephew Brodie, who took runner-up in the Super Sedan state championship this year. Hopefully, you’ll be seeing the Zappia name at the track well into the future!”

When John Zappia left his home in Western Australia to drive across the Nullarbor and race at Australian Top Doorslammer Championship rounds at Willowbank Raceway and Sydney Dragway, he had little idea of the events that were to come. The passing of fellow Top Doorslammer racer Sam Fenech at Willowbank was felt by all, but for the racers who knew him the most at the track, it was an especially emotional time. When Zappia arrived at Willowbank Raceway for the New Year Nitro event, the main thing on his mind was getting the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Monaro to behave itself and stay in the groove. “Being Queensland, we had the normal hot and humid weather, but we were able to start our weekend with a 5.76 which qualified us in second place,” Zappia said. “The car went a bit left on the pass, so we made some adjustments. We didn’t get much of a run in the second qualifying session, then in the first round of racing the car went right, and when I corrected, it shot to the left, and I was fighting to stay off the wall. I did have to lift but we still ran a 5.79 for the win.” The second round of racing saw Zappia take a 5.89 win, but it was while he was waiting at the end of the braking area that tragedy struck. “I was waiting for Kelvin Lyle and Sam Fenech to come down, and I heard a couple of bangs that sounded odd. Then only one car came down and it was Kelvin. I talked to him and he said he saw Sam go over the wall. It was just silence from then on, and it never got any better. All our thoughts were and are with Sam’s family and friends and with Maurice Fabietti and his team.” With New Year Nitro called off at Willowbank Raceway, most racers’ thoughts were far away from when the next event would be, but eventually focus had to turn to Sydney Dragway’s Top Fuel Slam. Over preceding weeks, the event shifted gears to become a memorial for Sam, to provide a fitting tribute to a much loved Top Doorslammer racer. It was Zappia’s first time back at Sydney Dragway in three years, and his first time on the venue’s new racing surface. Things did not start well as the Fuchs/Dananni Hotshots Monaro had to be pushed away with an electrical problem. “We came out for the first qualifying session and the car wouldn’t start,” Zappia explained. “We found what we thought was the cause and replaced the part to get it to fire, but there was still a misfire at idle. So from there we changed just about every electrical component on the car because the second qualifying session would be the held-over A Final from Willowbank.” The team did have some time to chase the issue, as Friday night’s racing was brought to an early close by rain. On Saturday Zappia finally took on Kelvin Lyle in a great side-by-side race, 5.77 to 5.77, with Lyle getting the ‘Willowbank round victory’ thanks to his better reaction time. “We both had bad reaction times, his was a 0.230 and mine was a 0.430. With all the heat and humidity it’s tough on drivers and maybe I got distracted,” Zappia said. “Kelvin opened the gate for me but I wasn’t able to capitalise.” While Zappia had to settle for runner-up, there was still another trophy available for the Sydney round – though a tough field stood in his way. Having found the cause of the electrical problem (a connector with loose terminals for the crank trigger), Zappia faced Matt Abel in the first round and took a 5.95 win. “I launched hard but the car went to the centre line and I took too long to pedal,” Zappia said. The next opponent would be Geoff Gradden, and this time a 5.75 would be good for the win light. With two other drivers also earning two wins (Daniel Gregorini and Kelvin Lyle), the decision on the finalists came down to ET points. “It was a close race in the points, and if only I had been a hundredth of a second quicker in either race we would have made the A Final. But, that’s how racing goes, and we had to focus on picking up the points we could in the B Final.” Zappia faced Emilio Spinozzi for his final race of the weekend. With all the problems cured, Zappia bolted to a 5.692 for low ET of the event and the B Final win. “We knew the car was going straight again and so we were able to put in power. While the results didn’t quite fall our way in Sydney we got home safe and the motor is all in one piece – both of those things are important.” Zappia has a busy month ahead, with his steel-body Zap’s Rat Monaro being prepared for Street Outlaws Australia, which will be followed by the next round of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship at the Westernationals in March.

A national record-setting performance from John Zappia’s Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants Monaro Top Doorslammer saw him compete in two final rounds in one weekend at Perth Motorplex as he took over the points lead for the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship. The camp was optimistic leading into the 2022 Goldenstates, as pre-event testing on the Wednesday prior saw runs of 5.66/253mph and 5.63/255mph thanks to an all-new Noonan engine combination. “These are fresh Noonan heads with new CP pistons and rods, and it is something of an R&D motor,” Zappia said. “The idea on Wednesday was to see what it would do and it produced results right away.” From there, Zappia Racing needed to turn their focus to Friday, which would feature not only qualifying for the Goldenstates, but also the postponed final of the Red CentreNATS from Alice Springs (in the third session of qualifying). “The conditions on Friday were unreal and we were making way more power, even though the track was a bit cool,” Zappia said. “On our first pass we rattled the tyres early and I gave it a pedal, then it did a big wheelstand but we still made it down for a 5.71. I was like, ‘Okay, that’s amazing.’ “We came out for the second session and it left hard with a .951 60 foot time and a 3.72/204mph to half track, then it went bang and popped the supercharger off the top of the motor! With the Alice Springs final coming up, we had to do a quick thrash to put a blower on it, change a couple of bearings and add some more fuel to the tune-up.” Zappia would take on points leader Kelvin Lyle for the delayed Red CentreNATS final race, with fans treated to an exciting race as Zappia’s 5.66 took the win and also top qualified for the Goldenstates and also receiving the Crow Cams Top Qualifier award. “Honestly, the engine didn’t sound like it was running on eight cylinders when we fired it up, it sounded a bit fluffy at idle, so we weren’t sure how it would go. But then we go 5.66 to win the race and set the national record, wow!” The Zappia Racing crew could only celebrate briefly, before needing to return to work to prepare the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants Monaro for Saturday’s racing. A rod was replaced and the heads were serviced so the Noonan engine could be perfect for round one. With three rounds of all-run racing to complete, Zappia would first have a solo pass. A spectacular 5.645/257mph run lowered the national record once again. “We were blown away to go even quicker, I guess that is what a healthy motor runs like!” Zappia said. The second round saw improvement again to a 5.644 against a tough 5.836 from Lyle, but as Zappia drove through the finish line the supercharger again backfired away from the motor. “I thought we must have just been a bit too lean but then there was a bit of a fire and a bit of smoke. We got back to the pits and the diaper was full of oil, so we knew then it was a broken engine.” The Zappia Racing team once again thrashed in the pits to change motors, but fell about ten minutes short of being able to make an appearance in the final round against Daniel Gregorini. The good news was that Zappia still secured enough points to take over the lead of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship. He was pragmatic about the engine. “Something wasn’t happy after seven runs at that power level. When you look at the conditions, we had some runs at -130 feet of density altitude. That’s supersonic air and everything gets stressed out more. We took a chance on this new motor to learn and we were really happy with the performance. “I really think we are onto something. The car is torquing up like it used to years ago so we’re even going to have to do some additional suspension work to handle the power. We can definitely see 5.50s in there and we are only scratching the surface of what we can do with the Ty Drive converter and the three-speed B&J transmission. “This was a huge week for us. There were some big 17 to 18 hour days in the lead up to the event and then all the work we had to handle across the weekend. The crew did great and it is just mind-blowing how well this combo went right away.” The Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants Monaro will be on display at the Mental Health Awareness Lunch for the Blue Tree Project at the Striker / MAXPlant Businesses at 862 Cockburn Road, Henderson on Thursday 17th from 12:00 to 2:00pm The Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants Monaro will next be racing on December 10 at Perth Motorplex for the Summer Slam Series, followed by a return to Willowbank Raceway on January 6 and 7 for New Year Nitro, then Sydney Dragway on January 27 and 28. Photos thanks to: Phil Reeves ANDRA Phil Blondel

John Zappia lifted a rollercoaster season with a winning performance in the third round of the WA Summer Slam Series, solidifying his position at the top of the points standings. The Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Monaro Top Doorslammer got off to a nervous start however, as a gremlin in the transbrake held the team back from the compulsory qualifying session. “We came out for the session and unfortunately the transbrake was a little bit worn and wasn’t quite holding,” Zappia explained. “It was bad for us, but on the positive side it gave our opponent Shane Catalano a chance to fire up his Charger and make a pass which was great for those guys after a lot of hard work getting the car to the track.” Back in the pits, the team quickly got into the transmission and replaced the band on the transbrake. Thankfully it was a simple fix, but with no time record, Zappia would have to face number two qualifier Kelvin Lyle in the first round. “With no runs on the board for the day, we had to draw on our previous data to put a tune-up into the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Monaro. This is where good record keeping pays off! Kelvin was coming in hot off a 5.82 qualifying run so we couldn’t leave anything on the table. This time the transbrake worked properly and we were off for a 5.763 win to Kelvin’s close 5.819! It was one of the best side-by-side races of the season so far.” The final round would see Zappia take on the winner of the last championship round, Daniel Gregorini. A .094 to .115 holeshot got the race off to a good start for Zappia and he extended the lead in a 5.732 to 5.783 thriller. “Wow, two great races in a row and win lights in both — it’s exactly what you want from a night at the track. We were perhaps a little down on power, as we were staying conservative with the motor given we have some big road trips over east coming up. We have a great base underneath us with the Ty Drive and three-speed B&J Transmission, and hopefully the little odd problems we have had are now out of the way.” Also impressing on track during the night was John’s nephew Brodie Zappia, who got to unleash his Chevy Camaro Super Sedan into the eight-second zone. “We have it restricted down to try and keep it in Super Sedan for now since he has some points in there racing my ute, but he has already got down to an 8.57!” John said. “I just know that with each run he will get more comfortable in the car and learn more. I know he is eager to move into Top Sportsman, but it would also be great to see him do well in the Super Sedan championship. He is adapting really well and he will be a champion one day, no doubt about it.” In other news from the Zappia stable, work has begun on preparing the steel-body Zap’s Rat for the Street Outlaws No Prep Kings event in February. There will be more news on this in coming media releases, so stay tuned. Zappia Racing’s next event will be at Willowbank on January 6-7 followed by Sydney Dragway in February. Zappia Racing would like to wish all our sponsors, supporters and all track staff and volunteers a very merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous new year.

When you’ve had a drag racing career as long as John Zappia’s, it’s fair to say there will be events you would rather forget. The 52nd annual MacTrack Westernationals fits firmly into that category for the many-times Top Doorslammer champion. After some positive results at the last round of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship in Sydney, Zappia came to Perth Motorplex hopeful of improvements at his home track. “On our first run out we had a similar tune-up to what we ran in Sydney and we pulled a 5.69 right away,” he said. “Considering the weather was getting better, we tried a different blower on there and the next session saw an improving 5.67, with a big 257mph. I was happy we had some power back in our Noonan Hemi!” The third and final session saw the Zappia Racing brains trust decide to turn up the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants Monaro in the hopes of a pass at the national record and that was exactly what they got with a stunning 5.614 @ 256.88 mph receiving the Crow Cams Top Qualifier award. “We gave it a little bit more off the line, as we stuck the Hoosier tyres on the launch in the second session. This time it was on a mission with a 0.956 to 60 feet and then a 2.49 at 330 feet, which was our quickest ever. We were really happy with that, especially finding pace in the first part of the track rather than trying to make it all on the top end.” Everything looked great to the team in servicing, with the B&J Transmission and Ty-Drive Converter in top shape, and preparations were made for the first round of racing against veteran Peter Kapiris, who was back at the Motorplex for the first time in many years. “The first round was where our luck changed,” Zappia said. “I tried to cut a light when I didn’t need to, and came up red with a -0.016. Then to add insult to injury, at 4.8 seconds into the run we had a rod break in the motor, which pressurised the other seven cylinders and we banged the blower. I rolled through for a 5.72 at just 223mph.” Now the Zappia Racing crew had an engine change to perform with just a short amount of time until the second round against newly licensed racer Lisa Gregorini. “We had a major thrash on our hands and we rushed the car out to the staging lanes as Lisa was given the fire-up order. We attempted to start our car and I looked over and saw that a couple of airlines inside the firewall were burnt from the backfire in the previous round. It was a 30-second job, but we were simply out of time.” A big thank you to all the crew and friends who worked non-stop for over an hour to get the engine change done. Also thanks to our eastern states friends (Daniel, Mick and Kelly) who chipped in to help where they could. Thanks also to all the ladies that help with merchandise, preparing food and looking after the crew in general. With just a single round remaining to salvage his event, Zappia hoped for the best in the third and final race against Matt Abel — but it wasn’t to be. “In the final we had a malfunction with the transbrake. We replaced the band of the transbrake on Sunday morning, but then there was an issue and I couldn’t get it into gear. I ground the gears until the car crept into stage, but all I could do was light the beams and turn the car off. It was a hard luck night.” Kelvin Lyle extended his points lead in the national championship with two events remaining, but Zappia has much experience when it comes to chasing down the opposition. “In hindsight, we should have had a more conservative strategy, but with running back-to-back 5.6s we didn’t want to change much,” he said. The team will next be on track on April 15 for the Summer Slam Grand Final in their last appearance of the Perth Motorplex season. While the Westernationals didn’t go to plan, it wasn’t the only racing the team has done in Perth lately, with the steel body of Zap’s Rat getting dragged out from the workshop and put together to compete as part of Street Outlaws No Prep Kings Australia. “It was great to be invited to be on the show,” Zappia said. “We had some great races against Jeff Lutz even though they hustled us on the first one. Those Americans sure stick together as a team to take the money while all the Aussies just wanted to race! I wanted to race Jeff Lutz three times so the audience got to see two well-matched cars racing their hardest but the whole TV show nature of it is hard to break.” “On a brighter note we ended the Westernationals with a win with my nephew Brodie in the Super Sedan class in only his fourth meeting in the class with his 97 Camaro. He now has two wins from four meetings and is showing he can compete against seasoned racers.”

John Z Zappia might not have walked away with the trophy at the opening round of the Summer Slam season on Saturday, but the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants team left full of optimism for the season ahead. The positive day began with a 5.752 pass in the single-shot qualifying session that would set the field for the sixth annual Powerpalooza, a motorsports festival that includes drag racing, speedway, burnouts and more at Perth Motorplex. “We were a little down on speed at 249mph but besides that we couldn’t complain,” Zappia said. “We were number one, ahead of Daniel Gregorini’s 5.828 and Matt Abel’s 5.868.” That would set up a round one encounter with Pino Priolo’s ’37 Chevy. As the last pair of racers for the round, Zappia watched his potential finals opponents run first, with Kelvin Lyle’s 6.042 the pass to beat if Zappia was to make the A Final. Unfortunately, the racing gods were not on his side. “As soon as I let go of the transbrake the car started misfiring and hosing fuel out of the pipes,” he said. “We only ran 6.36, but we did get the win light against Pino so we could at least salvage a B Final appearance.” Back in the pits, the team discovered the Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants Monaro had only been running on five cylinders, with two faulty spark plugs and a damaged spark plug lead. A very zen Zappia acknowledged that he couldn’t control the manufacturing process of parts and could only set himself up for the best chance in the B Final against Mark Chapman. “We obviously didn’t have much data from the previous round, so we made some little suspension changes and put a bit more into the tune up. It must have worked because the car left with a 0.972 60 foot time and felt absolutely awesome to half track. We clicked a 5.69/253mph, which was our quickest pass in a couple of years — we didn’t run a 5.6 at all last season.” Zappia said there was about 13 kilograms of weight that could still be taken out of the car (and the driver), giving the team plenty of confidence as they target the second round of Summer Slam as well as the second round of the ADRC series at the Goldenstates at Perth Motorplex on the 11-12th November. “This is a really good start to the season and we are making inroads on the Ty-Drive and converter with the three-speed B&J transmission. I’m sure there is more to come. “This weekend we are going to be back at the Motorplex competing in Top Comp and doing some more testing to work on the consistency of the car. We were all a bit rusty after a long break but with two events on consecutive weekends, and the Goldenstates just over two weeks away, we are all going to get lots of practice.” Photos thanks to: Phil Reeves Dragsmedia Ian Moore Phil Luyer

Drag racers must be adaptable in order to succeed, and John Zappia certainly had to stay on his toes as weather conditions and schedule changes at the Red Centre NATS at Alice Springs Inland Dragway put his team to the test. The Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants Monaro Top Doorslammer was originally meant to hit the track on Thursday for qualifying, but rain saw qualifying pushed to Friday. Once the sun was out, Zappia didn’t take long to make an impression with a 5.96 run to top qualify in the single-session shootout, earning the Crow Cams Top Qualifier Award. “We didn’t want to overdo it given we had just one shot at qualifying, so we backed the power down for a tune that would go straight down the track,” he said. The first round would be up against Matt Abel, who reached the final at the opening round of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship in Darwin. With a little bit more spice in the tune, Zappia scored the win light with a 5.87. “The Dananni Hotshots/Fuchs Lubricants Monaro was moving around in the top end and I pulled the parachutes early,” he said. “But then my muscle memory went to push the clutch pedal in — I don’t have a clutch pedal anymore! That’s where the brake is now, so then I had the wheels locked up and it was a bit wild. I won’t do that again.” For the second round, Zappia was on a bye run. With the cold night air closing in, the track surface would not be able to hold much power. The result was a sliding 7.30 run that gave up lane choice to Kelvin Lyle for the final. But then the news came that the conditions were no longer safe for racing, and the final would instead be contested later in the year at the Perth Motorplex championship round. “Obviously we wish we could have run the final, but it’s just not safe to put 3000hp race cars down a cold track,” Zappia said. “While the event had its challenges, we still had a great time meeting all the Alice Springs fans and we hope they enjoyed the show we could put on.” Those same fans got to see a new look on the Monaro, which now has joint naming rights from Dananni Hotshots and Fuchs Lubricants. Tony’s Auto Wreckers have also joined the team once again as a major sponsor. “We’re proud to represent Dananni Hotshots, Fuchs Lubricants and Tony’s Auto Wreckers once again,” Zappia said. “We’ve also been joined by WA Bolts and Callies Crankshafts for the first time, and we are happy to welcome them to the team. It’s also great to have Crow Cams and WA Suspensions back on board and all of our supporting sponsors — they make this all possible.” The next event for Zappia Racing will be the opening round of the Summer Slam at Perth Motorplex’s Powerpalooza on October 29. This big night features drag racing, speedway and burnouts all in one huge event. “Powerpalooza is such a unique event and we get to meet new fans from across each motorsport, so we will be looking to start the season strongly there,” Zappia said. Photos: Drag News

John Zappia and his Dananni Hotshots/Tony’s Auto Wreckers Monaro Top Doorslammer have continued their exploration of new driveline technology in a mixed opening round of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship. Zappia headed to Darwin’s Hidden Valley Drag Strip following a full week of testing at Queensland’s Willowbank Raceway with a Ty-Drive Converter Drive. Alongside Supercars and Australian Superbikes, plus the Australian Top Fuel Championship, for the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown, there was positivity mixed with the realisation that the combination was still completely new and a big learning curve. “We used a backed down tune for the first qualifying run as we thought the track surface would take some time to come around, and we hit a 5.87 at 245mph,” Zappia said. “It was a pretty straight and easy run, though the Dananni Hotshots/Tony’s Auto Wreckers Monaro did fishtail a little through the top end. “For the next qualifying session, we put more in it, but I had some of my old muscle memory come back and I forgot to push the transbrake, so the car just drove right off into a big wheelstand. The good news was we were still qualified number one as everyone else had their struggles with the track.” Race day arrived with tens of thousands of fans keen to see what the Top Doorslammers had to deliver for Hidden Valley. Zappia’s first round race would take place against local favourite Matt Abel. Zappia left with the holeshot, but silence came over his car at half track, leaving Abel to scoot around the outside for the win light. “At 3.6 seconds the power just cut out and Matt got around me. We got back to the pits and found the engine had broken the idler pulley, which took out a brand-new blower belt and damaged the top and bottom supercharger pulleys. Everything was a bit of a mess.” The team got to work in the Darwin heat to replace the mangled parts and returned for the next round against Kelvin Lyle. “The second round was a tough one. I got flustered on the line and took off with a 0.320 reaction time. That’s way too slow at this level of competition and despite a 5.82 we were beaten by Kelvin’s 5.96. I was pretty disappointed in myself, and I’ve got no real explanation. It doesn’t take much of a distraction to get a bad light.” That left just the B Final against Daniel Gregorini. Hoping for redemption, Zappia would have to settle for leaving Darwin without a win light after a wild pass. “We stepped it up for the final and the Dananni Hotshots/Tony’s Auto Wreckers Monaro Top Doorslammer took off like a rocket. The only problem was it was carrying the front wheels, and it just got higher and higher. I put the front down and tried to keep it in my lane, but I put half a rear tyre into Daniel’s lane. So, I guess we found three new ways to lose and hopefully got them out the way and can concentrate on improving our performance and consistency over the ADRC season!” Despite the lack of results on the time sheets, Zappia was still satisfied that the team had learned more about the new combination and what the car wants. “It was a risk making this change just as we start the new season and championship, and we are still not 100% comfortable with the procedure, but we are making good ground. We still had the quickest car in Darwin even with the dramas and our incremental times are within 2.5% of our PBs.” That’s not bad considering we are comparing 1200+ runs in a clutch manual car to 14 runs in the current setup with the Ty-Drive. The Top Doorslammer teams next head to Alice Springs for the Red Centre Nats in September 1 and 2 alongside the Top Fuel cars and all the burnout and cruise action. “We have some improvements to make before Red Centre Nats and we are hoping the car will run some quick times there as part of another awesome show.”

The Winternationals is one of Australia’s most prestigious drag racing events, but for John Zappia it was a chance to dial-in a new auto transmission across almost two weeks of testing. Weather and ambulance shortages in Perth saw Zappia unable to test at the Motorplex throughout May, so he made the decision to drive to Queensland early to get some much-needed runs on the board with the fresh combo. “We have a Ty-Drive Converter Drive in the car now along with the B&J three-speed,” he said. “We were running out of time in Perth and realised the chances of us being able to test were slim. With so many test days before the Winternationals, I decided to get over there and do the lot – all up we would get to do about seven days of testing racing across almost two weeks of being at Willowbank Raceway.” The first days of testing saw the team battle through some setbacks, with the skeleton crew performing well to keep the Dananni Hotshots/Tony’s Auto Wreckers Monaro on the track. “We blew the tyres off on the only run we made on day one, then came back out and banged the blower off the motor on day two. We got back to the pits and realised it had kicked a rod out of a brand new motor also. We also had ignition problems to fix from the blow up. The team worked until midnight to change the motor. “We got back out there and launched well on day three and then sheared a keyway on the magneto. Again, we got everything all fixed up and then finally we were able to make a full hit with a 5.82/249mph.” Zappia and his full-time crew member Curtis Spadaro spent a few days between testing and the Winternationals going over small details on the car to make sure everything would be perfect for the start of the event on Friday. A compulsory sighting run would be the first pass to make, where Zappia improved to a 5.78/251mph. “We felt like we were going in the right direction,” he said. “This was a brand-new setup, but it seemed like we could make changes and see the effect of those changes straight away.” With two separate championship rounds on Saturday and Sunday, Zappia would have two chances to emerge with victory from the weekend. Saturday began positively with a 5.720/252mph, followed up by a 5.76. The seeding breakdown, based on times from the second round, saw Zappia miss a place in the final by just one hundredth of a second. He made a solo run in the third and final round of the day, with a wild wheels up run that had the crowd cheering. “The Dananni Hotshots/Tony’s Auto Wreckers Monaro carried the front wheels for about 550 feet (3.45seconds), and we still went through for a 5.73/250mph. It was a bit scary but a lot of fun as well!” Sunday saw an unusual set of circumstances as Zappia faced off against Sam Fenech three times during racing. Both racers had their fair share of bugs during a mixed final day. “On our first run the MSD Grid was unplugged, which meant we had all the power delivered to the rear wheels instantaneously. Needless to say, we blew the tyres off, and that blew our chances of making the final for the day. “For our second run Sam had problems with oil pressure so we had a solo. Our car launched well for a 5.74 pass. “We hoped the third run would be a good side-by-side race for the crowd. I’m still getting used to the new auto setup, which requires me to use a button and full throttle in stage instead of balancing the clutch with the revs. I got on to the two-step too early and then off it again, then back on again, and I ended up red lighting. But still we went through for a 5.71/255mph, our best run of the week.” While Zappia’s name was not to be etched on another Winternationals trophy, he still saw the Queensland trip as an extremely positive one. “We had no idea what we would be in for with this new transmission setup, so to come away with a 5.71 is impressive. I’d like to thank Todd Tutterow for all his help getting us going with the Ty Drive. My crew worked their butts off, they did a hell of a lot of work. We had a really good start with this automatic deal.” Zappia had little time to spare after racing was finished at Willowbank Raceway, packing up the transporter and beginning the drive to the Northern Territory for the opening round of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship as part of the Darwin Triple Crown, which will also feature the Australian Top Fuel Championship, Supercars and Superbikes. “This was a perfect test session for us in advance of a new era for Top Doorslammer racing. We’ve got a strong field of Australia’s best Top Doorslammers heading to Darwin and we can’t wait to return there for all of our NT fans. Let’s hope we can kick off the new ADRC Top Doorslammer Championship with a good result and get the season started on a positive note!” Photo: Drag News www.dragnews.com.au

A dream finish to the season proved elusive for John Zappia and his Dananni Hotshots/Tony’s Auto Wreckers Monaro Top Doorslammer after a first round loss at the ANDRA Grand Finals. With a championship in his sights, the first goal for Zappia was to qualify well. After a pedalling 5.81 n the Friday night qualifying session, Zappia returned for Saturday’s second session and clocked a 5.761, missing the top spot by just two hundredths of a second. “Our first run left okay but we had tyre shake and a 5.81 was definitely not where we wanted to be,” Zappia explained. “We only had one more shot to get it right. We stepped the car up to our 5.64 tune-up and took a swing to try and go to number one. The car left hard, but we again had the tyres rattling, and then we smoked a piston which took down our top speed.” The Zappia Racing team got to work replacing the engine, and then softened the tune-up in an effort to make an A-to-B run. As night fell, the conditions became tricky for every team to manage. On one hand there was excellent air, allowing the supercharged engines to produce enormous amounts of horsepower, but on the other hand was the cold, which meant traction was on a knife-edge. “We were up against Stu Moresby, who has shown consistent five-second pace lately. I launched well, my reaction time was a 0.056 which is pretty good for this car, and then we had tyre shake again! My vision was blurred and when I could see again I realised I was way out of the groove and heading for the wall. I tried to recover the run but we ended up grazing the wall and putting us out of the race — and the championship”. “I did everything I could to save the run, as even with a couple of pedals we can still potentially run fives. The data logger showed I was on and off the throttle four times. I knew I’d let both championships go at that point; there was a lot of pressure on my shoulders.” Moresby’s Dananni Hotshots Studebaker went on to win the event, and overtake Zappia for the Direct Mining & Industrial Summer Slam championship too. “Congratulations to both Stu and Daniel on their performances this season. Western Australian Top Doorslammer racing is as competitive as it has ever been, with more cars coming in. I know the fans got a great show, and while we’d always love to come away with the ANDRA gold Christmas trees, seeing the class at such strength is awesome. “I’d also like to wish Steve Aldridge all the best in recovering from his big crash. We never like to see that in drag racing and we hope we can see him back.” Zappia now turns his focus to interstate events, including Darwin’s Nitro Up North and potentially the Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway. “We’ve got some R&D to do over the next month and we’re going to shift our focus to a new season, with some exciting developments to come for Australian Top Doorslammers very soon,” Zappia said. “A big thank you to all our Sponsors, crew and volunteers, supporters and fans for your invaluable support throughout the year. We finished Runner up in both the ANDRA Top Doorslammer Championship and the Direct Mining & Industrial Summer Slam Championship and will set our sights on an even better year in 2022/2023 and give our sponsors the best exposure possible”. Photos: Phil Reeve and Ian Moore