Scrappers Racing Top Fuel owner-driver Mike Salinas has been paying no attention to the rumors that seem to be swirling around him at the moment.

One has him leaving the Top Fuel class. (He isn’t.) 

The other has tuner Alan Johnson and the entire Brian Husen-led team heading to Kalitta Motorsports next season. (As far as Salinas knows, that’s not true.) 

However, Salinas is going to be racing a Pro Mod car, but he doesn’t plan to ditch Top Fuel. 

“Oh, no,” he said while preparing to qualify for the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pa. “We're doing both. I'll run my Pro Mod at the next race. I’ll be in Charlotte with my Pro Mod.” 

And what about next year? 

“We’re going to run it, too. I have another one coming, because the girls want to start doing it, too. They want to do double,” the Bay Area businessman said, referring to daughter Jasmine, who competes in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, and daughter Jianna, who races in Pro Stock Motorcycle. 

Mike Salinas confirmed he’ll field “two Pro Mods for sure next year, then depending on the wait of them, there’ll probably be a third and a fourth one coming up.” 

A third daughter, Janae, will be pursuing her Super Comp license Oct. 1-2 at Bakersfield, Calif.’s Famoso Dragstrip. 

As for the team-exodus rumor, Salinas said, “As far as I know, no. And I don't believe so. We’re going to know at the end of the year, aren’t we?” 

Whatever happens, he said, “We always keep moving forward, no matter what.” He refused to become caught up with what he called “all the say-so's and ‘hear this’ and all the rumors.” He said, “If it's going to happen, it's going to happen. And if not, it won’t. I know I can only control what I can control, and that's me.” 

The Salinas contingent has far too much going on to stop and fret about anything. The San Jose-based family never is idle. Collectively, they’re eager for just about any drag-racing adventure. 

“We have to live every day like it's our last, because why would you not? Because we're not promised tomorrow,” Mike Salinas said. “I'm with my family. We're having a great time. We're not going to let anything slow us down.” 

A perfect example is how he has rebounded from the unfortunate circumstances at last weekend’s Dodge SRT U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis that left him unqualified. He experienced a problem with his dragster during his Friday-night qualifying attempt, then rain washed away the final two sessions there Saturday. 

Salinas shouldered the responsibility: “We just need to make sure we have it together. That's all. We gave it a shot at something, and it didn't come out on our side. We just went out, and it just didn't work, whatever we were doing. That's all.” He declined to go into detail, simply saying, “Whatever we did, it didn’t work. We already went through everything that we normally do with our procedures, and we didn't miss anything. We had something that just didn't work in our favor.” 

He sloughed off any angst because the U.S. Nationals is billed as the Camping World Drag Racing Series. To him, all the races are equal. “Actually, you know what? They're all the same, to be honest with you,” he said. Ditto for all the other concerns that everyone talks about. “Don't care who we run. Don't care anything about any of that stuff. We just go out there and do our thing. Don't get caught up into the drama of the race deal,” Salinas said. 

“We all pull through the gates thinking the same thing. Whoever does their best at what they're doing, that's how it comes out. They wind up winning,” he said. 

“But the good thing about this sport is you got to earn it. You got to earn it, and it wouldn't be the same if it was given to you. If it was given to me, I wouldn't want it, because then what are we doing? You got to know it's real, and you got to know you earned it.”