After two straight wins in Thunder Valley, it might be time for Mike Salinas and family to find a permanent place in Bristol. After an unexpected double, he spoke of doing just that in the media center while clutching the events Wally.
Salinas won the most recent event at the track in 2019 and is now a back-to-back winner in Thunder Valley, ousting Steve Torrence in the final round of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals on Sunday when the points leader went up in smoke on the starting line.
“It’s a great facility and I’m glad they welcome us here,” Salinas said. “This track loves me. I met so many nice people over the years here. We’ve got a great team, and all the parts and pieces, and I think I threw away 3 to 4 races at the beginning of the year trying to get my routine down. It’s hard when you’re running with all these guys, but I got a lot of help and I’ve made some big improvements.”
“It's really fun to run both classes,” Salinas added. “My head’s in the right place. It’s taken me a while to get here, but it’s starting to get a little easier. I’m going to be able to cut some pretty decent lights. These guys in this class, they’re awesome. They cut good lights I found something that works perfectly for me and I think we’re getting there. I just try to race my lane and that’s it.”
RPM Round By Round:
Round 1 - Salinas faced Antron Brown in round one and Brown's weekend struggles continued. Salinas on the other hand ran a blistering 3.672 at 334.32 MPH.
Round 2 - Clay Millican appeared in the second round after beating Josh Hart in the opener. With confidence running high and a special wrap on his car remembering his late son, Millican was looking for another Wally. While Millican made a very competitive run, Salinas scraped by with a run of 3.707 at 326.63 MPH.
Round 3 - A competitive Brittany Force awaited Salinas in the semi's but he remained focused on the task at hand. Brittany had problems quickly after launch and Salinas had another consistent run at 3.698 at 330.55 MPH.
Round 4 - Steve Torrence was waiting for Salinas in the final and this was a battle that recently took place with Torrence getting the win last time out. This time was a different as Salinas ran 3.854 at 284.45 to get the win after Torrence had to pull up after smoking the tires. Salinas takes his first win this year and the third of his career.
Check out the recap by Josh Hachat:
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