BRISTOL WINNER MIKE SALINAS: NO RIVALRY WITH STEVE TORRENCE

Written by Lee Montgomery, photos by Roger Richards    Mon, 2019-06-17 08:00




To those who want to build up a rivalry between Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence and up-and-coming driver Mike Salinas, take a seat.

Salinas beat Torrence in the final of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals on Sunday at Bristol Dragway, ending Torrence's five-race winning streak. And Salinas became the second Top Fuel driver to win more than one race this season.

Torrence still has a 339-point lead in the Top Fuel standings, while Salinas sits third despite missing two races. On the surface, Salinas' Scrappers Racing team – led by mastermind Alan Johnson and crew chief Brian Husen – appears to be a leading contender to Torrence's title hopes.

But hold on, Salinas said.

"We're gonna do one race at a time," Salinas said. "Sometimes when you talk, you get yourself in trouble. We let our stuff happen on the track. He is the champion. There are 14 other guys out there besides me that want him.

"You've got to step back a little bit and look how long it took them to get there. They're a great family, they've worked their butts off to get there, spent all kinds of money to come into this sport and I'm really happy for them that they've done really well. It sets the bar for all of us.  The Torrences changed the sport by being a single-car team to win the championship. I owe that family a lot, I really do. The kid's a great driver. Every time you go up there, you better have you're A-game because they're here to win.

"The nice part is, we're going to do this a lot more. We're going to see at the end of it who comes out on top. None of us show up at the track to lose, so I think we're going to show our stuff on the track. And there are 14 of us who have a rivalry with Steve – not just one."

Salinas had a tough road Sunday, but had plenty of speed to beat Scott Palmer, Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta and Torrence. He was low of the first round (3.800 seconds) to beat Palmer, second-lowest of Round 2 (3.908) to beat Brown, low of the semifinals (3.817) to beat No. 1 qualifier Kalitta.

"I've never won against Antron, I've never won against Steve," Salinas said. "So just to get those two were really nice for me. I was happy to get past Antron, just like Scott Palmer.  Doug Kalitta is a great opponent; his lights are amazing. He, Antron and Steve – those three guys are the guys who are going to run for the championship, and they're going to be right there.

"I'm learning how to get to that level. I think I'll get there."

Before the semis, Salinas' team had to make a late engine change.

"We started the car up, and smoke was coming out of the valve covers," Salinas said. "We had to do a motor swap in 17 minutes, and the guys swapped motors and did a really great job, in, out. We fired the motor up and went out and took care of Doug."

Torrence left first in the final, but Salinas' 3.836-second pass at 325.69 mph overcame Torrence's 3.892-second run at 287.60 mph.
 
"You can't take anybody out there lightly, nobody," Salinas said. "One at a time. We were happy to get past Scott Palmer because Scott's a buddy of mine, but I did wear an Evel Knievel shirt this morning, so that was my luck.

"This weekend, we came to have fun, to be honest with you. Alan knows exactly what he's doing, and I have all the confidence in him and the team. It's just amazing to be in the seat with these guys."

 

 

 
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