NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

There is an old adage, believed to have been coined in the United States military: Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. The phrase has been used as a reminder to focus on the task at hand, to be precise and methodical, and to, well, slow down. For Jianna Salinas, that's asking quite a lot — but the 24-year-old Pro Stock Motorcycle rider is coming to learn the value of that philosophy. 

In January of 2022, Salinas experienced a dramatic crash at a test session in Florida, where front-end parts failure sent her over the handlebars of her Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle in excess of 165 mph. Initially, the San Jose, Calif., resident was released from the hospital after a brief stay with amazingly few injuries for such a fierce accident. Her racing attire — including her helmet — were unfit for further use, but Salinas appeared to have only suffered severe road rash and bruising rather than broken bones.

"Gainesville was coming up, and I was about to have my final meeting with the doctor to get the medical waiver signed off so I could come back," said Salinas, who had made her debut in the class at the 2019 Gatornationals. "I started trying to put more weight on my foot and get back into it, and I knew it shouldn't still hurt, but I said to myself, 'I'll just push through it.' But the doctor looked at how swollen my foot was and said, 'Something doesn't look right here.' " 

He sent Salinas to a podiatrist and for x-rays, and the images revealed a fracture in her foot that had likely been there since the accident. It was determined that surgery would not be needed, but the young woman so eager to start the third year of her racing career would be adorned with a fracture-correcting boot for several weeks. She would miss the Pro Stock Motorcycle season opener and would not be able to race until, most likely, the SpringNationals in Houston in late April.

"In the big picture, I'm still very lucky that this is all I came away with," she admitted. "Ever since I was a child, when it came to sports, I was always willing to push my body through pain or injury. What it amounted to was that I was not taking care of myself physically by doing that, but as I've gotten older, especially now, I realize that I can't keep doing that. I have to ask myself, 'Is it worth it?' " 

Giving up one race, though, is quite different from giving up altogether. After her dad, Mike Salinas, won Top Fuel at the NHRA Arizona Nationals last month, the Scrappers Racing patriarch spoke on the tenacity and intentions of his youngest racing daughter (daughter Jasmine also races competitively, though in the Top Alcohol Dragster category). 

"Jianna is a tough kid," he said to the press when asked about his daughter's plan to return. "She was pretty banged up, but I don't know what their mother feeds them – they're tough as nails. Her mom and I really started thinking, this is our daughter; we don't want to see her hurt. But [Jianna] told me, we have a new bike already, so we're going racing. She also said, 'If you and Jasmine quit, I'll quit.' So, we're going racing."

The all-or-nothing mentality fits their program; Scrappers Racing is a family operation, through and through. As one of the younger sisters in a pack of four, ever-cheerful Salinas is very visibly surrounded and supported by a tight-knit group led by her father, the lifelong businessman whom she and her sisters affectionately refer to as Michael, and mom Monica, a recent Harvard graduate and the co-founder, vice president, and CFO of the family's business, Valley Services.

Salinas also has a top-notch group behind her with Matt Smith at the helm and crew chiefs Gary Stoffer and Greg Underdahl turning the wrenches of her Scrappers Racing Suzuki. She will ride alongside Smith and his wife, Angie, as well as Jimmy Underdahl. Even with such a team backing her efforts and the staunch support of her family, Salinas found herself in a moment of question.

"It took me a couple of weeks to admit it, but yes, there was some doubt for me about coming back," she said. "I crashed in 2019, but that was completely my fault. I was 100% in control of what happened, and I knew I needed to make some changes and get better, and it would be OK. But this time, it hurt. I was going much faster, and it was parts failure that none of us saw coming – it could have happened to anyone. Mentally, that's more difficult to get over."

Salinas also conceded that there is now something else to take into consideration. She is soon to be married to United States Air Force Logistics Readiness Officer Eldrich Evaristo. 

"It was a difficult conversation for me because I was always like, this is what I want to do, so I'm doing it," she said. "But my parents reminded me, now you have to have a conversation and see how he feels. I'm a strong, confident, independent woman – but how can I expect to have a good relationship without communicating with my partner and hearing his feelings? But he's been unbelievably supportive. He's my biggest fan, and he's always there to tell me that he believes in me.

"There was a moment when I questioned whether or not I was strong enough to come back, but he and my family stood by me through that, and what I came to realize was that it's about measuring risk and reward. My parents always instilled in us that hard work leads to opportunities, but that you also have to be able to recognize opportunities and know when to take them. I'm only 24, and this is the best time for me to get back out there. I'm very lucky to have this opportunity, and this is something I want to be part of. It's not something I'm giving up."