Top Fuel low qualifier Mike Salinas was careful in what he could say Saturday after securing his third 2022 No. 1 qualifier. He would love to tell what his team discovered on Topeka’s blistering hot racing surface, but a solemn oath prevents him from giving even the slightest clue.

The code of the Secret Squirrel bound Salinas. 

“Car’s running fine, not hurting parts. Real smooth, real clean. Really kind of funny,” Salinas said. “On the last run, we tried something, and we know it will go faster. We have a lot left in the tank, so it’s good and the guys are very comfortable, so we think we’re going to be ready for race day.” 

When prodded about the nature of the finds, Salinas was somewhat secretive. 

“We’re building one that’s kind of a Secret Squirrel thing, but it’s very nice,” Salinas explained. “I think we’re going to be really good in the heat, to be honest with you. It’s really good. The car just seems to love it. And I felt something different on that run. On the back, on the top end, it was pulling really nice, and we dropped two holes and it was pulling this nice, so we’re like, ‘Whoa if we cannot drop those holes. That run should have been a .76, .75.” 

The one secret Salinas did drop was two key secrets that fell outside of the Secret Squirrell restrictions. 

First, let your managers manage. 

“If you let people do the jobs that you hired them to do and not micromanage them, let them be who they’re going to be,” Salinas explained. “We have a model that we’re doing right now, and it’s been working. On the team, I’m just the driver. It doesn’t matter that I own all the stuff. It doesn’t matter that everything has to go through me, the major stuff. But when we’re at the track, I’m just another guy with the guys. And you let the car chief, the crew chief, the head crew chief, and everybody do their job, you’d be surprised how good it becomes, and that’s what’s happening. I don’t get involved in the runs. I don’t care what they do. They have a job to do. Let a man do his job.”

Secondly, it’s okay to be a follower. 

“It’s almost like two factions, I’m the driver, and they’re the other part,” Salinas continued. “Together, we work really well together because the guys that strap me in will tell me, ‘okay, I need you to cut a good light. I need you to bump it in.” 

“I’m the owner, and most people would get offended. They’re going to teach me things that maybe I didn’t see. I didn’t feel like I had to do that this day. But it’s really funny. I have a guy that comes in, and he tells me, ‘okay, I need you to bump it in. Okay, I need you to go deep. I need you to this.”

“He’s just one of the guys. It’s really cool because, at that point, I’m just the driver. I’m not the owner. Pretty awesome.”