After nearly five months away from the driver’s seat, Jasmine Salinas returned to competition this weekend at the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. Driving the Valley Services/Scrappers Racing Top Fuel dragster, Salinas posted her best run of the weekend during Friday’s second qualifying session to secure her place among 19 drivers vying for a spot in the 16-car Sunday show. She was hoping for a repeat performance of her 2022 Gainesville outing, which saw her earn her first national event Wally trophy while competing in the Top Alcohol Dragster category, but an early loss of traction ended the second-generation racer’s day after the first round of eliminations.
Salinas and the Scrappers Racing team, now armed with the addition of veteran crew chief Todd Okuhara, opened the weekend with a clean run of 3.866 seconds at 326.24 mph. They followed that up with an even quicker 3.791-second pass at 329.67 mph under the lights in Q2, giving the team two strong data points as they worked to dial in their new combination. Saturday’s hot and humid conditions proved tricky, and the team encountered tire smoke in both attempts, ultimately settling into the No. 14 position on the Top Fuel elimination ladder.
Matched up against Leah Pruett in Sunday’s opening round, Salinas’ car lost traction shortly after she stood on the throttle, forcing her to lift early while Pruett made a clean pass in the opposite lane to advance. Despite the early exit, the weekend provided valuable track time for the Scrappers Racing team as they begin building momentum for the 2026 season.
“We came into this race knowing we’d be behind compared to a lot of the other teams that had pre-season test sessions,” said Salinas, who competed on an abbreviated six-race schedule in 2025. “It’s not an ideal situation to have to utilize qualifying sessions to get your car and tune-up dialed in. Pulling the car out and making two good hits right out of the box Friday night was a great start. We’ve learned what we need to adjust on the car.
“It was an overall great return to the track for this Scrappers Top Fuel team. I’m looking forward to getting more seat time this season and turning on those win lights that I know will be coming soon. While everyone else heads out to the West Coast, we’ll be staying back and doing some testing to fine tune the car and get it locked in.”
Salinas and the Valley Services/Scrappers Racing team will return to the team’s headquarters in Brownsburg, Ind., where they’ll prepare for their next scheduled event, the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway, April 24–26.
This story was originally published on March 9, 2026. 
