Jianna Evaristo is NHRA’s Fastest Female Pro Stock Motorcycle Rider
When she first began riding Pro Stock Motorcycle, Jianna Evaristo was scary to watch. She appeared incapable of getting her Suzuki motorcycle down the track without leaning it over. Everyone leans to a certain extent, but Jianna was a bit off the charts. One of four daughters of nine-time Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series Top Fuel standout Mike Salinas, Jianna Earisto seemed to lack the feel for her motorcycle that’s crucial to going quickly on a quarter-mile racetrack.
In her 2019 rookie season, Evaristo used racer’s luck to win the season finale on what’s now known as In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip in the California city of Pomona. She got to the finals of that race when Andrew Hines and his Harley-Davidson motorcycle fouled out in the first round, Steve Johnson’s Suzuki lost power in the quarterfinals, now-teammate Matt Smith’s Buell engine expired in the semifinals and 2016 class champion Jerry Savoie’s Suzuki stopped after taking the Christmas tree lights in the class’ final round.
Evaristo was in tears at top end after that race; by gaining victory over Hines, Johnson, Smith and Savoie, she enabled Andrew Hines to earn his sixth and last Pro Stock Motorcycle championship, for himself, for Vance & Hines and for Harley-Davidson. Her final round that day wasn’t terribly quick or pretty, but it was a winning pass and that’s what makes straight-line racing so special. You never know who’s going to get to the finish line first.
Things have improved greatly for Jianna Evaristo since that time. She got married, had a kid, took 2020 off (not a bad idea) and changed teams. She’s now riding with Matt Smith Racing and competing on a Buell for the first time in her career. It was a period of adjustment at the start of the season in Gainesville, and Evaristo needed some time to understand just how that chassis and engine work best together.
Just as Evaristo is finding her sweet spot and gaining status in her chosen class by going rounds with her new equipment, she performed an unexpected (by everyone but her) feat during the 36th DENSO Sonoma NHRA Nationals, held at her home track of Sonoma Raceway, that had some people who’d watched her early travails shaking their heads in wonderment.
The 25-year-old – she’ll be 26 in August – became the fastest woman – ever – in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a blast down the quarter-mile of 6.674 seconds at 204.54 mph. That’s faster than Karen Stoffer, better than Angelle Sampey, quicker than teammate Angie Smith. Better than any woman in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, fastest in the history of the class. And that run was also the second-quickest in class history.
With her father Mike Salinas, who’s been out of commission all season since have a quadruple heart bypass surgery earlier in the year, looking on, Evaristo made the finals of the GTTRX NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Callout, racing against her mentor and crew chief, Matt Smith. Smith went on to win the Callout, earn the No. 1 qualifier nod and capture the national event win. “It was really incredible to reach the second-fastest speed in Pro Stock Motorcycle,” she said, “especially at DENSO’s race. The weekend didn’t end the way we wanted; we had the bike to beat.
“It’s frustrating to come out here, setting new records two weekends in a row, and fall short because of my reaction times. It’s definitely something to work for and I think I’m hungrier than ever to work on my skills so we can hit the ground running when we compete in Indy,” she declared.
As the No. 2 qualifier in Sonoma, she dispensed with newcomer Clayton Howey on a Suzuki, with a run of 6.699/204.35. Her reaction time in the quarterfinals, so critical in every class but even more so on a motorcycle, was a 0.084 while her opponent, Hector Arana Jr. left with a 0.022 reaction time. That is what made the difference and Arana’s holeshot win had a margin of victory of 0.0064, just less than two feet!
After winning the Callout against Evaristo, Matt Smith was generous with his compliments to his team rider: “Jianna is going to be an excellent rider, and I’m proud of what she’s doing,” the six-time bike champ said. “Before the final, I didn’t cut her any slack. We’ve both struggled to cut a light here, but I still told her I was going to spank her!”
Smith is well-known for his attempts to psych out the competition. On his Callout final run against his teammate, Smith re-set the track record for elapsed time at 6.655 seconds, at 204.23, against Evaristo’s 6.703/203.77. The results didn’t disappoint her as much as pump her up for the success she’s sure to achieve in her upcoming races. Pro Stock Motorcycle is out of action until the 70th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.