NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Three weeks ago in Las Vegas, Mike Salinas realized a dream years in the making when he hoisted the Wally trophy after winning NHRA’s four-wide event in Las Vegas. 

Of course he got congratulatory calls and texts from a lot of his racing buddies, but also from business partners and friends outside of racing, including some titans in the business and entertainment worlds. He’s too modest to share their names, but he appreciated their support.

“They called and said, ‘We’re watching the race; we’ve known you and your family for years, but this is amazing.’ That made me feel really good.”

And instead of enjoying the type of raucous celebration some driver/team owners might throw to celebrate a first career win, Salinas, a non-drinker, did what he always does.

“After every accomplishment in business, I go get an ice cream -- vanilla bean with chocolate chips --- and relax and move onto the next challenge,” he said. “Everyone else would grab a beer; for me, it’s ice cream.”

He didn't bask long in his Las Vegas success. For him it was a simple as, "OK, now that I've proven I can win, let's go win again."

The win was the culmination of a dream he first pondered decades ago as a fan watching the racing at Baylands Raceway Park near his Northern California base and honed to a keen edge when one of his daughters told him that racing Top Fuel would be hard –-maybe too hard.

He ran three races in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, two in ’14, and seven in 2017 as he built his dream, never in a rush but goal-driven. He ran all 24 for the first time last year and reached his first final, in Bristol, where he lost to Tony Schumacher. The results of a 17-23 win-loss season did not match his expectations because Mike Salinas is a success-driven guy used to the results matching his investment in the business world. No excuses.

His kids work a seven-day week at the family salvage and garbage business when they’re not racing and Mike even climbed behind the wheel of one of his company’s dumpster trucks recently and filled in for a week and a half while one of his drivers was out sick. 

So when he overhauled the team over the winter by hiring the best tuner in the business, Alan Johnson, and A.J.’s right-hand man, Brian Husen, he expected big results. They went to the semifinals at the season opener and four races later won in Las Vegas. It’s true in life that you get what you pay for.

“Alan came in and told me, ‘This is what you need to have to win,’ and I told him, 'I'm going to give you everything you need, but when it comes time for me to win or do good, I don’t want to hear any [excuses].' I paid for top tier, and I expect top tier. I’m not going to drag around a car from race to race that’s not top tier. I’m a problem solver. If the car’s not right, go back and figure out what’s wrong with it.”

While the Scrappers car suffered last year from problems that began in the pit area and manifested on the racetrack, Salinas also unknowingly was part of the problem too, but in Johnson he not only got one of the sport’s most brilliant minds, but a driving coach, too. And because he's a businessman, Salinas didn't let his pride get in the way. So he listened.

“The man is a genius, the way he thinks, and some of things he tells me, they’re just so simple,” said Salinas. “Everything I thought I knew about driving, he’s changed, everything from how I hold the steering wheel and how tight I pull the brake, what I’m looking at when I drive, what I’m thinking. He put blinders on my car so that I could focus on just where I’m going, that it doesn’t matter what’s happening next to me. 

“He and [NHRA Nostalgia Top Fuel champion] Adam Sorokin have taught me how to put myself in a different world from where I was, and to live in the moment instead of worrying about the other car or how many points we’re earning, to relax and calm down. It’s amazing, I thought I knew how to drive a car until I met him. He taught Tony Schumacher some amazing things, and Tony shared them with me. John Force has shared things with me. Shawn Langdon, too. That’s what I love about this sport. When the crowds are gone, we’re a big family. John Force and Robert Hight were the first people to help me; they were the only ones who knew I was going to go racing. John and Robert signed my license, and so did Ashley [Force]. They went out of their way to help us and still help us today.

“Everything is clicking right now. We’re not hurting parts. Alan is very methodical about how to save money and parts and run it the right way rather than what’s been the norm in the sport, which has been wasting money and wasting parts, and that’s what’s running people out of business. We’re doing what every team owner out here would like to do.”