Jasmine Salinas to Sub for Dad Mike at Pomona This Weekend
First it was Robert Hight stepping away from his John Force Raving Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car due to medical issues. JFR had the perfect stand-in, Austin Prock, who had been Brittany Force’s Top Fuel teammate. He burst out of the gate with a runner-up result in the first NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series contest of the 2024 season, the 55th Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals.
On Monday morning, news dropped that Mike Salinas, renown for being the first NHRA Top Fuel drag racer to run 300mph in the eighth-mile has a medical issue that will force him from his Scrappers Racing dragster. And Mike, too, has the perfect substitute to be his team’s primary driver: daughter Jasmine Salinas, 32, who achieved her NHRA Top Fuel license last year and had been preparing to drive a second Scrappers dragster this season.
Jasmine Salinas had been a standout racer in Top Alcohol Dragster and has been looking forward to being her father’s teammate. That scenario will have to wait a bit as she moves to the front-line duties leading this team. She’ll debut this coming weekend during the 64th Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, CA., in the Scrappers/Petersen Automotive Museum dragster.
“I’m very proud of Jasmine,” Mike Salinas said. “I look forward to returning to the driver’s seat once I am ready. Jasmine has the best crew in drag racing,” he emphasized, “led by Rob Flynn, Arron Cave, Adem Cave and Troy Fasching. So there’s no doubt in my mind that this Scrappers Racing team is going to be a force at the track. They are just as confident in her as she is in them.”
March is Women’s History Month and, no doubt, Jasmine Salinas is looking forward to making her own history on the historic Pomona dragstrip. “It’s an absolute mix of emotions, as this was not how I wanted the opportunity to come about,” she mused. “I’m incredibly grateful that my dad has entrusted me with the chance to step up into his place. I know that I have some big shoes to fill. My dad and his entire team have worked hard to make a name for themselves in this sport, and I want to make them all proud.”
Jasmine Salinas will have three opportunities to make the Top Fuel field with a single late afternoon qualifying session on Friday, March 22 and two sessions on Saturday. Eliminations are scheduled for 11AM ET Sunday morning. Final eliminations air Sunday 7-10PM ET on FS1.