- Jasmine Salinas has competed in the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks since 2019 and has earned three victories in her career.
- Salinas began racing at the age of 15 in the Jr. Dragster division.
- She currently serves as her dad’s team’s General Manager and handles all day-to-day operations.
Second-generation drag racer Jasmine Salinas needs to make two full passes in a NHRA Camping World Series Top Fuel dragster to acquire her license to compete in the same class with her father, Mike Salinas, but she says there’s no timetable on when that will occur.
“We haven’t set … any expectations on myself for when I want to get the license,” Salinas said. “I’m really fortunate that I have the opportunity to be able to take my time with the licensing process. We’re just taking it as it comes, and making less focus on licensing and, honestly, more focus on … making sure that I’m comfortable in the car. I know I’m not ready for competition anytime soon.”
In March, Salinas made three practice launches to the 330-foot mark in a nitro-powered Top Fuel dragster at Wildhorse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona. While at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in April she completed three passes, recording a 6.60-second elapsed time on her first pass. She smoked her dragster’s tires early on her second run and then “smoked it out pretty late” on her third pass. Now that she has completed an eighth-mile pass, two full passes – 0 to 1,000 feet — remain for her to get her license.
Salinas has studied her dad and other Top Fuel drivers and talked extensively with her father and their crew chief Rob Flynn.
Her father’s crew worked with two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Brittany Force when she obtained her license for the nitro-class.
“I’m really fortunate that I’m with a really good, solid group of guys that are really able to help me,” Salinas said. “All of the competitors my dad races within Top Fuel also have been very helpful, giving me advice and helping me prepare for getting into the car. It’s just taking everything in and then just figuring out what works for me.”
Salinas, who admitted she feels more pressure because her dad competes in Top Fuel, said Force, the daughter of 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force, “gave me a lot of great advice.”
“I’m not the first person out here that’s racing and has a parent that’s racing as well,” Salinas said. “I know I’m not going to be the last person experiencing the pressure.”
During this weekend’s Circle K NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, Salinas admitted she was thinking about the three Top Fuel drivers she wants to sign her Top Fuel license. She noted it would be considered a license upgrade since she already competes in Top Alcohol Dragster and that has helped prepare her for her career move. However, the difference between the two cars is monumental.
“Top Fuel is an animal, completely different in its own world,” Salinas said. “When I say it’s an animal, honestly, it’s just the speed and the power that these cars have. From the starting line to half-track, they (Top Fuel and Alcohol Dragster) feel pretty similar. But then from half-track onward, it’s the power and how fast these cars are going. The cars are moving faster than what my brain is able to comprehend. I’m not at that point yet where I’m able to react and respond right away.
“By the time my brain realizes what’s happening, and where I’m at, and what I should be doing, it’s already several seconds too late. There’s nothing in this world that can prepare you for that. You just have to keep getting in the seat and keep experiencing it until your brain is able to adjust. But that’s also been the coolest experience is seeing how your brain is able to progress and adapt.”
Salinas said her crew chief told her she would reach five-and-a-half Gs in three seconds. However, when she deployed the Top Fuel dragster’s parachutes that she would hit negative six to seven Gs in less than a second.
The 5-foot-2 Salinas said several Top Fuel drivers have told her she will know if she has it or she doesn’t when it comes to racing the powerful dragster. The deciding factor – keeping her foot in the gas or backing off.
“The drivers I have talked with have described it one of two ways,” Salinas said. “It’s so exciting and it’s unbelievably fast, and then the other group of drivers are saying it’s the most frightening and terrifying thing they’ve ever done when they hit the gas. Hearing a lot of grown men and champions saying they were terrified the first time they had to hit the gas makes me feel a little more comfortable.
“Between those two experiences, I’m trying to figure it out for myself. The best advice my dad has given me has been, ‘You know, it might be scary, but just keep your foot in it.’”
Mike Salinas qualified 10th for Sunday’s first round in the finals at the 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
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