DI Women of Power 2024: Jasmine Salinas Stepping Up to the Plate
When Jasmine Salinas earned her Top Fuel license last year, her plan was to compete in five NHRA national events in 2024 alongside her father, Mike. But plans quickly changed when the elder Salinas announced he would be taking a temporary step back from driving duties for personal health reasons. With the announcement, Jasmine was thrust into the role of primary driver for the Scrappers Racing team.
[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #189, the Women of Power Issue, in July/August of 2024.]
“I was just as surprised as everybody else,” Jasmine admits. “It was a total shock. The original intention was for me to slowly transition into learning as much as I could, taking my time. With my dad stepping out, my mindset shifted, and I think all of that pressure 110% got to me. I was in panic mode.
“The crew that we have – Rob Flynn, Arron Cave, Adem Cave, Troy Fasching, and the rest of the guys – everybody else was calm, collected and cool,” continues Salinas. “We all got together, made a game plan, and figured out how to make everything work moving forward.”
Salinas is no stranger to piloting a nitro-burning dragster. From 2018 through 2023, she ran an A/Fuel car in Top Alcohol Dragster, giving her unique insight as she equipped herself to move up to drag racing’s premier class. Yet even that couldn’t fully prepare her for what she was about to experience.
“I think I was a little naive when I got my Top Fuel license,” Salinas says. “It felt very similar to what I had experienced in an A/Fuel car. The procedures are exactly the same. But now that I’m actually in competition, it’s going a lot faster than what I was doing in licensing. I’m realizing there’s so much more I have to learn, and I’ve just barely scratched the surface. It’s been a very humbling experience, honestly. It makes a huge difference when you have that positive relationship with your team and you know that they are in your corner, confident in you, and rooting for you.”
That focus on relationships began for Jasmine when she was a child, attending nostalgia drag races with her dad and sisters. As the owner of a business, Mike had to be away a lot for work during those early years. As he got older and worked less, the track became a special haven for their family as he ventured into the world of Top Fuel in 2011.
“Drag racing became this new space where my sisters and I could get to know our dad more, hang around him,” Salinas says. “Here was this thing he loved, and we wanted to be a part of it. We ended up falling in love with it in our own ways. As he started getting more involved with it professionally, I decided I wanted to work on his car and his team. I started out just working in the office, but by the end of the year, I was rebuilding superchargers.”
While working with the team rejuvenated her passion for the sport, her desire to drive began much earlier. During her first trip to an NHRA national event in Sonoma, she saw Brittany and Courtney Force compete in Top Fuel and Funny Car, respectively. Jasmine admits she didn’t even know at the time those types of cars existed, and she was blown away by both the raw power of the cars themselves, and the fact that women were driving them.
“You see somebody that looks like you, it’s something you don’t forget,” says Salinas. “I cherish that. The more women we have in this sport, the better it’s going to be for inspiring younger people. I carry that with me any time I show up at the track. Even away from the track, I’m aware there’s a possibility that there is a young person out there looking at me and saying to themselves, ‘OK, if she’s out there doing it, maybe I can do it too.’ And I think that is very powerful.”
As her Top Fuel career continues to evolve, Salinas says she has personal goals for herself that she is keeping private for the time being. But she admits that the mentality has already shifted. She can no longer be content with just getting past first round; the Scrappers team expects to contend for championships, and that’s where her personal focus must be as well.
“It’s been an incredible learning experience, but I want to win,” says Salinas. “And not just win, but make a name for myself beyond the Scrappers name, beyond everything my dad has accomplished so far. I think it’s incredible that this is a generational sport. But because of that, there’s always this feeling of living up to the people that came before you, living in the shadows of those that gave you your opportunities. My goal is to see if there’s an opportunity to make a name for myself while also adding to my family’s legacy in racing at the same time.”
This story was originally published on August 23, 2024.
The post DI Women of Power 2024: Jasmine Salinas Stepping Up to the Plate first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
