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Zappia clarifies radial plans as he concentrates on Summer Slam
John Zappia is adding to his stable of race cars with a pair of new projects to dabble in the exciting world of radial tyre drag racing, though his focus remains squarely on his Dananni Hotshots Holden Monaro Top Doorslammer ahead of a new season at Perth Motorplex.
The first project is a Holden VP ute using Hoosier radial tyres that will be driven by Zappia’s partner Rae Lockwood, aiming for nine second times on the quarter-mile. The second project is a steel-body Holden HQ Monaro that is currently just a bare chassis.
“I bought the HQ Monaro 2 door from Victoria, though we still have to work out how to get it here with all the COVID stuff,” Zappia said. “It’s a mild steel chassis with standard body specifications and will probably find a place in Radial racing, Supercharged Outlaws or AA/Gas. We will set the car up for both a LS motor and a Hemi.”
“Western Australia doesn’t really have a place for big-show radial cars like the Kenda Series in Queensland. We do have a radial class but it is moreso for street-style cars.
“If I want to do a big show radial car we have Zap’s Rat sitting there ready to go, but it’s not as if we have $50K events like they do in the USA.” There is only one other blown hemi radial car which is run by Simon Travaglini from All Fast Converters with his BA Falcon.
And so Zappia’s focus remains on the Western Australian Summer Slam Series, where he hopes to back up his 2019/2020 championship win in his 5.5 second Dananni Hotshots Monaro, nicknamed ‘Crusher’.
“We’ve got a full volunteer crew and it’s not reasonable to expect those people to quarantine for two weeks just to go racing on the east coast, so right now our main target is the Summer Slam,” he said.
“We will be aiming to represent our co-naming rights partner Dananni Hotshots in the best way possible and we are always looking for other sponsors in the Western Australian community to get behind us for the Summer Slam Series.”
While winter has seen less racing than normal for Zappia, he has kept busy by getting a new merchandise shop online as well as setting up his workshop to handle more parts sales. https://www.zapsratstore.com.au/
“It has been a good time to finish off projects I have been meaning to get to,” he said. “The race season here in Perth can’t come soon enough.”
We will start the season off in Perth at Powerpalooza on the 31st October and will have all our merchandise and model cars available to sell. Hope to see as many sponsors and supporters get behind the Perth Motorplex for the start of a new racing season.
Photo: Phil Luyer
Latest News History

Zappia Wins East Coast Nationals
John Zappia and his Fuchs Monaro won the East Coast Nationals Top Doorslammer event in Sydney with a resounding 5.762 at 249.58mph in the final. It was an extraordinary weekends racing where teams had to get a handle on a very tricky track, and master the ever changing weather. “It was a tough weekend for […]

Zappia on track for East Coast Nationals
John Zappia is on track for a big 2015 East Coast Nationals event in his Fuchs HQ Monaro Top Doorslammer after recent events. Sixteen Top Doorslammer Teams have registered for the event, with some tough competition for the champ. “We are going to have to be on the ball this weekend,” said Zap, “O’Rourke, Kapiris, […]

Zappia charges back to lead the ANDRA Championship with Darwin win
Reigning eight times ANDRA Top Doorslammer Champion John Zappia won the second round in Darwin over the weekend, to wrestle back the lead in the 2015/2016 ANDRA Top Doorslammer Championship after winning a great final race. The event was staged at Hidden Valley Raceway – an Australian Government funded racing facility in northern Australia – […]

Zappia resets TD Track record in Darwin
Hidden Valley Drag Strip in the remote northern city of Darwin hosted Round 1 of the new Australian ANDRA Championship Series, and what a show it was! Huge crowds turned out to watch Top Fuel for the first time, Top Alcohol and Top Doorslammer racing and the buzz around Darwin was high during and after […]

Zappia wins 8th Back-to-Back National Top Doorslammer Championship
ANDRA Top Doorslammer Champion John Zappia made a clean sweep of the 2015 Fuchs Winternationals in a dominating performance that saw him Top Qualify, Win the Final Round, Low ET and Top Speed for the meeting, reset the National Record and win his eighth back-to-back Championship. “A great season” said a jubilant Zappia, “Reminds me […]

Zappia ready for Winternationals and Championship Number 8
Reigning and seven times back to back Top Doorslammer Champion John Zappia is on his way to Willowbank Queensland, Australia for the biggest drag racing event outside of North America – the 2015 Fuchs Winternationals. The event is the final round of the short 2015 ANDRA Top Doorslammer Championship, and Zappia is fully prepared to […]

Zappia makes it Three from Three with a Win in Adelaide
Seven times back-to-back Australian ANDRA Top Doorslammer Champion John Zappia won the VPW Pro Series 1000 event this weekend, making it three from three in his chase for championship No 8 straight. Adelaide International Raceway hosted the ANDRA sanctioned event, promoted and run by Racing Onn Promotions, running the shorter 1,000 feet compared to the […]

Champion Zappia Wins 2015 Westernationals
Seven times back-to-back Australian ANDRA Top Doorslammer Champion John Zappia won the 44th Westernationals held at the Perth Motorplex this weekend and increased his lead in the short 2015 season to 85 points. The prestigious Western Australian event was a difficult playing field for the 18 teams that contested Round 2 of the ANDRA Top […]