NORWALK, OH – June 27, 2022 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Mike Salinas won for the first time at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, taking over the Top Fuel points lead on Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals with his fourth victory of the 2022 season.
Robert Hight (Funny Car), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the 10th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
In the Top Fuel final round, Salinas’ run of 3.706-seconds at 333.58 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Valley Services/Scrappers Racing dragster outdistanced Josh Hart, as he also set the track speed record in the championship round. It continued Salinas’ remarkable season, sending him past Brittany Force for the points lead with his seventh career victory. Salinas reached the final round by knocking off Tony Schumacher, Doug Kalitta and Leah Pruett, posting a stellar reaction time in the final round against Hart as he won for the third time in the past five races.
“It’s amazing,” Salinas said. “(Crew chief) Rob Flynn brought a calmness to this team, and everyone has a voice. I think that is unprecedented and that’s been pretty awesome. We’ve earned the right to be out here and race against these guys, and we belong here. It’s a good thing because we’ve got a great team and I’m learning how to drive. It’s been really cool for this entire team and a lot of fun, and I just really appreciate being here and being in this position.”
Hart reached his first final round of 2022 and third in his career by knocking off Spencer Massey, Austin Prock and Force, who now trails Salinas by just 12 points.
Salinas wasn’t the only nitro driver who took over the points lead on Sunday, as Hight did the same in Funny Car, rolling to his fourth win of the season as well with an impressive 3.944 at 327.51 in the finals in his 11,000-horsepower Auto Club Chevrolet Camaro SS against Bob Tasca III. It is Hight’s 57th career win and first at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, making a series of stellar runs during eliminations, including a 3.890 at 328.06 in the semifinals against J.R. Todd. Hight also took care of business against Jim Campbell and Alexis DeJoria to reach the final round, where he was able to hold off Tasca for a monumental victory.
“This is big for us,” Hight said. “I had never won here, so being able to cross this one off and get the points lead, it’s big….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motor Sports NewsWire…