Jasmine Salinas returned to the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour this weekend for the 4-Wide Nationals near Charlotte, marking the second-generation driver’s first time back in the seat for an NHRA event since the season-opening Gatornationals in Florida last month. Salinas and the Scrappers Racing/Valley Services Top Fuel team looked strong in qualifying at zMAX Dragway, making three solid passes out of four, but a parts malfunction during the first round of eliminations on Sunday ended their race day early.
With 19 cars vying for a spot in the 16-car field, competition was at an all-time high at the season’s only four-wide event. In the opening round of qualifying, Salinas’ machine lost traction early to place her on the bump heading into Friday night’s session under the lights, but the team rebounded quickly with crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Adem Cave sending Salinas on a 3.783-second at 331.77 mph ride to launch from 16th up to the No. 8 position. The team’s strong performance continued into Saturday with the third-year Top Fuel racer posting a run of 3.833 seconds in the heat of the day, which held up to be low E.T. of the round, before laying down another strong run of 3.864 seconds in the final session. With qualifying wrapped up, Salinas settled into the No. 9 spot, pitting her against No. 1 qualifier Shawn Langdon, No. 8 qualifier Spencer Massey, and No. 16 qualifier Dan Mercier in her first-round elimination quad. Salinas was looking to keep the momentum rolling Sunday morning, but a parts malfunction caused the engine to let go, ending the team’s hopes of advancing into round two.
“It feels really good to be back running on the NHRA tour,” said Salinas, who spent her NHRA absence gaining seat time on the IHRA tour where she powered to a runner-up finish from the pole at the series’ season opener. “The four-wides have typically been pretty good for us. First round didn’t go our way, we ended up breaking a rear end, which then caused this whole chain reaction, and we hurt a bunch of parts. For a part-time team like ours, that really hurts our pockets. We really try hard not to do that. We have three weeks until we’re back on the track again for the IHRA Triple Crown, so we’re going to try and get some new parts between now and then. We haven’t been able to replenish any parts this year, so while that’s obviously not ideal, it does make us feel good that when you look at our competitors and what the top cars out here are running, we’re right there with them and we’re doing that on old parts. So, when we do get those new parts, we know we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.
“In qualifying, in Q3, we were low of the entire session and that was with the blower belt coming off at 800-feet, so that right there shows we’ve got a great car and a great program. I’m gaining a lot more confidence and a lot more seat time this year doing this hybrid schedule between the two series. The team that we’ve got is very seasoned and really badass, and to see that we’re a part-time team keeping up with a lot of these full-time cars with much bigger budgets, it’s giving us a lot of motivation and excitement. We’re going to keep working hard, and try and get the car together. I’m going to keep working to find sponsorship and get the money that we need to replenish our parts and hopefully, add more NHRA races to our schedule, but I’m really excited about our program this year.”
Salinas will be back on track May 22 in Reading, Pa. for the IHRA Triple Crown.
In Pro Stock Motorcycle competition, Salinas’ sister, Jianna Evaristo, advanced into round two after taking her bike straight down the groove in 6.788 seconds at 199.37 mph to win her quad. She then posted another good pass of 6.825 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to score a spot in the final round.
