Top Fuel owner/driver Mike Salinas arrived at the Nevada Nationals with an NHRA world championship dream still within reach.

However, the highly-successful San Jose, Calif., businessman had to start making up ground fast as he was sitting in sixth place in the season standings,131 points behind leader Leah Pruett.

Salinas took a small step in moving up the standings Friday. He took the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot with his 3.699-second elapsed time at 332.75 mph in Q2 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“We backed it down,” Salinas said about his pass. “We figured we would run a (3.)68, a 68 with a 9 or a 68 with a 7. We backed it down a little too much. We should have been a 68. The car made a nice clean run, smooth.”

Salinas has been the No. 1 qualifier three times this season – Chicago, Seattle and Charlotte, N.C.’s fall race. If he keeps the No. 1 spot it would the 15th of his career.

Salinas knows keeping the top spot will be a challenge during Saturday’s two qualifying sessions, which are at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Pacific.

Saturday “is going to be a better day. The weather will be good, and I don’t think (his 3.699-second time) will hold, to be honest with you,” Salinas said. “The 69 with a 9, everybody is 3.70s right there (Saturday) they will inch up a little bit and the weather will be better and (Saturday) I predict you will have to run 3.67 and 3.68 to be No. 1. Our goal is to run a 3.67, 3.68.”

Salinas felt like his team’s first qualifying pass Friday was a waste.

“We blew the tires off (in Q1), so we are considering this (the 3.699) our first run,” Salinas said. “If we would have made it down the track (in Q1), this run (in Q2) would have been a lot better.”

As for Salinas, he has a simple plan for Saturday; i.e., hold nothing back.

“We actually swing for the fence on every run, we really do,” Salinas said.

With just two races left in the Countdown to the Championship (Vegas and and closing at Pomona, Calif., Nov. 9-12), Salinas is focused on keeping his championship hopes alive.

“We want to get as close as we can to the front and see where we wind up,” Salinas said. “This race is winnable and so is Pomona.”

Salinas does enjoy competing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“This is a nice place and I have won here before (in 2019), so it is nice,” Salinas said.