If the term Familial Hypercholesterolemia, or FH, doesn’t sound familiar, Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Jianna Salinas can explain. Her friends Scott Radabaugh and his 15-year-old daughter Chloe, who like Salinas are from Northern California’s Bay Area, know all about it. 

FH is an inherited condition, one not exactly rare but definitely underdiagnosed, that results in high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, “the bad cholesterol”) and increased risk of premature cardiovascular disease in men and women. 

Salinas has joined the Radabaugh family in raising awareness of the condition as they have bonded through motorcycle racing and their steeliness in overcoming adversity. For Jianna Salinas, the struggle has been to triumph over her spill from her bike during eliminations at Chicago, shake off criticism from people who know virtually nothing about her, and improve her riding in NHRA competition. For Chloe Radabaugh, the adversity could be life-threatening if untreated, and for her father it’s a daily task to maintain regained health after suffering a heart attack and undergoing quadruple bypass surgery at age 34.

If California’s Auto Club Raceway at Pomona were a baseball diamond, the Top Fuel box score from Sunday’s Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals might look something like this:

It is the kind of race where legends are made.

And it is the kind of race people will talk about for ages.

Maybe next time, Greg Anderson.

It has been three months since Anderson earned his 96th career victory in the Pro Stock category, leaving him one win shy of tying Warren Johnson for first on the all-time win list. And he is still waiting.

With ambient temperatures at Pomona, Calif., zooming up toward triple digits and track temperatures at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona well exceeding that – blistering enough to cause Top Fuel finalist Just Ashley to wilt in his cockpit and concede a solo run to opponent Leah Pruett – Pro Stock Motorcycle winner Matt Smith acknowledged that it was maybe the toughest victory he ever had earned. 

Second-year driver and 2020 NHRA Rookie of the Year Justin Ashley defeated three tough competitors Buddy Hull, Brittany Force and Antron Brown, on the way to his second career final round during the NHRA Winternationals. Unfortunately, extreme heat forced Ashley to climb out of his Smart Sanitizer Top Fuel dragster powered by Strutmasters.com before his final round race with Leah Pruett. With track temperatures soaring over 140 degrees and conditions at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona well over 90 degrees Ashley’s team felt it was prudent to not compete in the final round as Ashley was battling heat exhaustion bordering on heatstroke.

Ron Capps is a true historian of the sport of drag racing.

Not only has he studied the sport, he has lived it as one its greatest drivers.

Antron Brown stands in unyielding Steve Torrence’s way like some seemingly doomed target in a video game. He’s the Top Fuel points leader’s first-round opponent in Sunday’s eliminations, which kick off at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. And he might be the toughest rock to budge. 

Torrence has the chance to become the first since 2009 to sweep the three-race Western Swing. The Capco Contractors Dragster driver would be the sixth Top Fuel driver to accomplish that (following Joe Amato, Cory McClenathan, Larry Dixon, Tony Schumacher, and Brown) and the eighth in all (including Funny Car’s John Force and Pro Stock’s Greg Anderson). What he’s laser-focused on instead is winning this race – and the next and the next and on down the line to a fourth straight championship. 

That’s what Brown, who’s directly behind him in the standings, is trying to do, as well. 

Point standings (top 10) following the 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, the 10th of 20 events in the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series -