TOPEKA, KS – August 13, 2022 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – Top Fuel standout Mike Salinas closed out Friday at Heartland Motorsports Park with the top run of the night, racing to the provisional No. 1 spot at the 33rd annual Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Joey Gladstone (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 14th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
Racing next to points leader Brittany Force on the final run of the evening, it was Salinas who had the top performance of the opening round of qualifying, delivering a strong pass of 3.754-seconds at 323.19 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Pep Boys dragster. If it holds, it would give Salinas, who has four wins this season, his third No. 1 qualifier in 2022 and 11th in his career. Salinas led the points for a two-race stretch earlier this summer before Force jumped back in the lead, and the veteran is trying to close the gap again this weekend in Topeka.
“The way we’re doing this, we’re taking it one round at a time and not getting too far ahead of ourselves,” Salinas said. “There’s a lot of racing ahead of us and a lot of great teams. You can just see the cars getting closer and closer. Tomorrow is going to be awesome. Our cars love the heat and we’re getting ready for Sunday. It’s going to be a dogfight and it’s anybody’s race out there. All the Top Fuel cars are so close here.”
Justin Ashley, who has a pair of wins this season, is second with a 3.765 at 320.43 and Josh Hart is third after going 3.766 at 310.41. Force is currently sixth.
In a thrilling round of Funny Car on Friday, Tasca edged out the John Force Racing tandem of Robert Hight and John Force with an impressive run of 3.930 at 323.81 in his 11,000-horsepower BG Products Ford Mustang to take the provisional No. 1 spot. After advancing to back-to-back final rounds on the Western Swing, winning in Sonoma, Tasca qualified No. 1 in Seattle and will now look for his second straight top spot and the ninth in his career. Tasca’s strengthened his championship resume in recent weeks and started his weekend in Topeka strong as he looks for his first career win at Heartland Motorsports Park.
“It’s nice to start off from the No. 1 position,” Tasca said. “This is big because it’s going to get hot out. Look how competitive the class is. It just shows you how tough it is out…
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