The Tin Top Titles will feature, amongst an action-packed support program, the powerhouse Group One categories of Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock, with 16 car fields seeing double the usual amount of competitors battling it out.

While the West Australian Zappia may have a long list of racing achievements to his name, an ANDRA National Championship Title has so far managed to elude him, with runner-up finishes for the past two seasons of Top Doorslammer.

Currently leading the Top Doorslammer championship with two rounds left to run and a 143 point buffer over second-in-line Brett Stevens however, that may all be about to change for the full-time racer.

“We have been runner-up for the past two years – so this is the one!” said Zappia.

“I have a good buffer, but still anything can happen, and with an extra round of racing it really throws it wide open for racers to pull an upset.

“We won’t be relaxing, we will just go out there and do the best we can do to clinch the title - we have stocked up on parts as the last thing we want to have happen is to lose the championship because we didn’t have the right part on hand.

“We will also head out to Kwinana (Zappia’s local track in WA) and get in as much testing as we can before we head to Queensland, so we can be ready to stick to the game plan and go seven rounds (3 rounds of qualifying and 4 rounds of racing) at Willowbank.”

Although the last Top Doorslammer round was at his home ground last month, that Event didn’t exactly go to plan for the 46 year old from Perth – leaving him all the more determined to come up with the goods in the Sunshine State.

“We overpowered the track in Perth and once it does that you spin the wheels and the car goes to the right,” said Zappia.

“I stayed over there too long and then pedalled it twice to be able to stay alongside Ben (Bray), but then hit the top gear too early and just lost out.

“When we head to Willowbank we will run the set-up that we ran last year at the Nationals – where we made it to a finals berth and only lost out due to a mechanical failure during the run.

“We broke a push rod which meant we had to slow down, but even then our run was still a 6.09s which was only just beaten by a 6.07s – so we are quick there.

“We have run 14 five second passes in the Striker Crushing and Screening Monaro, with one of those at Willowbank Raceway at the Castrol EDGE Winternationals in 2007 – so one of the aims at the Tin Tops, apart from racking up the points, is to put down a five second pass for the Queensland fans.”

Zappia would like to express his thanks to his major sponsors Rentco, Pidgdon Portable Restorations, Fuchs, Force Tools Australia, AGI Insulation, Trustek, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires and Wheels, Beta Spuds, Southside Engine Centre and Striker Crushing and Screening for supporting him in his first year as a full-time professional drag racer.

For the first time ever in Australia, a 16 car Top Doorslammer Field and for only the second time ever in Australia a 16 Car Pro Stock field will be hitting the track at Willowbank Raceway for the 2008 Tin Top Titles.

In a usual event, fans would see eight competitors line up against each other for the first round eliminations, but at the Tin Tops they will get to see the top 16 competitors in two of Australian Drag Racing’s powerhouse Group One categories duke it out for the win – effectively giving them twice the amount of racing than ever before.

This will be the first time ever that Top Doorslammer has had such a large competitive field, and will be only the second time for the Pro Stock category in Australia and the first time for Queenslanders to see so many Pro Stockers up against each other.

The April program will feature the penultimate round of Group One activity in Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock categories as drivers enjoy one final hit out prior to the season-ending Castrol EDGE Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway on June 5-8.

Four wheels and a roof to boot will be standard for most entries in this quarter mile extravaganza, which brings together many traditional drag racing categories coupled with a selection of unique race cars that enjoy cult following among their loyal fans.