Mike Salinas wasn’t kidding. 

After he defeated Steve Torrence in Sunday’s Top Fuel final round of the Thunder Valley Nationals to score back-to-back victories at Bristol Dragway, the San Jose, Calif., businessman told the crowd he was going to buy a home in East Tennessee.

“We’re going to get a lake house. Come on over!” he said. 

But when he spoke to the media later, the Scrappers Racing owner-driver said he was serious about that. 

“I’m literally going to buy a lake house here,” Salinas said. “We’re going to go look at it Monday morning. We’re going to move here. This will be our landing spot. We’ll still stay in California, but when we race, we’re going to live here. I’ve met so many nice people over the years here.”

So while Salinas, who also reached the semifinals of Pro Modified eliminations Sunday, goes house shopping, points leader Torrence will be looking for reasons his almost-untouchable Capco Contractors Dragster immediately went into tire smoke and gave Salinas an easy career third victory. 

Salinas won on the 1,000-foot course with his slowest-of-the-weekend 3.854-second, 245.05-mph performance. 

He races with daughters Jasmine (Top Alcohol Dragster) and Jianna (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and will bring in youngest Janae next season. So he was proud to share the winners podium Sunday with Alexis De Joria (Funny Car) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) in the first event this year at which two women have won at the same race. 

De Joria is the sixth different woman to win, and her accomplishment Sunday represented the 10th victory by a woman in 2021. Women have won at nine (half) of the season’s 18 completed races. Sampey also won at Charlotte. Others winning this year are Pro Stock’s Erica Enders (at Las Vegas; Norwalk, Ohio; Indianapolis; and Madison, Ill.), Top Fuel’s Leah Pruett (Pomona) and Brittany Force (Topeka), and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Karen Stoffer (Sonoma).  

Torrence was able to extend his advantage over No. 2-ranked Brittany Force from 52 to 73 points. And as the Camping World Drag Racing Series heads west to Las Vegas in two weeks for the Dodge//SRT Nationals, his semifinal victim Justin Ashley and Salinas trail in third and fourth places, respectively, by 147 and 150 points. 

“Mike has really stepped up his game this year,” Torrence said after Salinas denied him his milestone 50th victory. “It’s tough out there. These Capco boys are the best in the business, but it’s not easy to win these races.  You got Mike, Clay Millican, Brittany, Justin Ashley, Josh Hart, Antron (Brown), Leah (Pruett), Shawn Langdon, and Doug Kalitta all out there every week trying to hurt your feelings.  And sometimes they do. 

“Fortunately,” he said, “we went rounds again today.” 

But the day belonged to Salinas, who advanced past a stout lineup of Antron Brown, Clay Millican, and Force for the chance to meet Torrence in a replay of the St. Louis final round two races ago. 

Racing in two attention-demanding categories this weekend, Salinas said his “head is in the right place,” largely because of the experience he has gained from competing in the Pro Mod category and the advice he has received from Jose Gonzalez, who clinched the E3 Spark Plugs / J&A Service series championship with his runner-up finish to J.R. Gray. 

“It’s a little hectic, but it’s fun to run both classes. I’m 60 years old, and I’m one of those guys who can’t sit still,” Salinas said. “The nice part about what we’re doing now is it’s just another run. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the final. It has taken me a while to get here, but it’s actually getting easier.” 

For Salinas, running Pro Mod, he said, helps by giving him extra experience with the Christmas Tree (working to perfect his launches). 

“Jose’s working with me. It has helped me in the Top Fuel car enormously,” he said. “He showed me a procedure that I’ve integrated into the Top Fuel car. It’s actually scary because it’s getting easier. I’m going to be able to cut some pretty decent lights. That’s all the drivers look at. I found something that works perfectly for me, and I think we’re good now.” 

He has benefited also from visits with chassis builder Brad Hadman and a swing back through Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School at Gainesville, Fla., just three weeks ago. 

“I threw three to four races away toward the beginning of the year, trying to get my routine down. I couldn’t cut a light for nothin’,” he said. “It’s really hard when you’re running against these young guys.” 

Salinas was runner-up earlier this campaign at Epping, N.H., and St. Louis, losing first to Billy Torrence and then to Steve Torrence. 

Although many pro racers complained this weekend about Bristol Dragway’s quirky bumps (blamed largely on the tunnels that connect the grandstands to the pits), Salinas had no real complaints about it. 

He said he hit a bump during his No. 2-qualifier run Saturday that “almost pulled that steering wheel out of my hands. Just had to really grip it from half-track on, that’s all. It’s a great facility. They’re doing everything they can. I’m glad they welcome us here.” 

Sunday he had no problem with the lanes, reaching both the Pro Mod semifinals and the Top Fuel final and winning the latter. He set the Top Fuel track speed record at 334.32 mph in the opening round – before Justin Ashley came along three pairs later and rewrote it at 334.48 mph. 

He loves Bristol Dragway, and he said, “This track loves me.”