Mike Salinas is pretty straight forward about how he views the final race of the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season this weekend at Auto Club Pomona Raceway.

“The coolest thing about drag racing at the level we are doing it is you will either walk out of here smiling or crying,” Salinas said. “So, do you want to cry all offseason, or do you want to smile? I want to smile.”

On Friday, Salinas took the necessary steps to avoid an offseason of tears as he placed his Scrappers Racing dragster on the provisional pole at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, the final race of the season for NHRA’s professional touring series.

Salinas drove his solid black machine to a 3.694-second pass at 328.78 miles per hour in the next-to-last pairing of the day’s lone qualifying session. If his time holds, it will be his second top qualifier award of the season and the eighth of his career.

“It helps when you have Alan Johnson, Brian Husen, and the team we have that tune this car,” Salinas said. “You go out there and you know that the car is going to run well and that is what they are known for. It is pretty easy actually, because they are making this fun.”

Of course, even with an elite number on the board that placed him as one of only two drivers to dip into the 3.60s on Friday, when you have a tuner like Johnson in your corner, there is always room for more.

“They didn’t tell me (the number), but if you look at Alan’s face after, I would assume (that wasn’t it),” Salinas said. “He always wants better, just like I do. That is why we are a good match, because we expect better from each other.”

Championship leader Steve Torrence qualified second Friday evening behind Salinas, running a 3.698 at 317.05 mph in the Capco Contractors dragster while earning three more bonus points to put between he and second place Brittany Force in the battle for the Top Fuel crown. Force abandoned her lone run on Friday, placing her machine 11th after day one.

Torrence’s father, Billy Torrence, qualified third with a 3.713 at 330.47 mph, while Antron Brown (3.719) and Shawn Langdon (3.747) rounded out the top five.

While still mathematically a part of the championship hunt, Salinas would need a wave of upsets to propel himself back into the title picture. Still, coming off of three final round visits in the last four races, he knows anything is possible in the world of drag racing.

“I never listen to the noise. I am kind of in my own world,” Salinas said. “I know what I need to do. It is not race day yet, but it is. Every run is a race. We will get better tomorrow. It doesn’t matter where we lineup at the end, if we do our job, we will be in a better position than where we started.

“Really, the only thing that is important to me is that I have four daughters watching. So if I show a good example, that is what matters.”

After an up-and-down start to the year, Salinas knows that this team has turned the corner and is once again one of the most feared in the pit area. And he would love nothing more than to show that with his second Wally of the season on Sunday.

"I got six more rounds to win. That's real simple," he said. "We're having a good time. We're going to finish this year off strong. And that's our plan and make it fun. And we'll start fresh next year. I think there'll be faster cars tomorrow in the heat. And I think we're going to run well tomorrow, too.”