Fearless at Full Throttle: Inside the Mind of Jasmine Salinas
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NHRA top fuel driver
Top Fuel drag racing is a type of car racing where very fast cars called dragsters race in a straight line over a short distance. The drivers use special fuel and their cars go super fast in just a few seconds.
Car
top fuel dragster
A top fuel dragster is a very fast race car that goes straight down a track really quickly. It is built to be light and powerful so it can reach very high speeds in just a few seconds.
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racing professionally
Racing professionally means driving race cars as a job, not just for fun. These drivers compete in big races and often get paid for it.
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NHRA series
The NHRA series is a big group that organizes drag races in the U.S. They have different types of races with very fast cars.
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drag racing
Drag racing is a race where two cars go in a straight line to see which one is faster over a short distance. It's about who can get to the finish line first as quickly as possible.
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IHRA
IHRA is a group that organizes drag racing competitions, where cars race in a straight line to see which is fastest. It's similar to NHRA but a different organization.
Concept
NASCAR
NASCAR is a type of car racing where drivers race specially made cars that look like regular cars but are built to go very fast on oval tracks.
Car
NASCAR stock car
These are special race cars used in NASCAR that look like normal cars but are made to go very fast and keep drivers safe.
Term
330 miles an hour
330 miles an hour means going really, really fast, much faster than normal cars on the road.
Term
qualifying
Qualifying is when drivers race against the clock to see who can get the best starting spot for the actual race.
Term
pedal a race car
Pedaling means quickly letting off the gas pedal which can make the car harder to control, especially when trying to go fast in qualifying.
Term
outside pressure
Outside pressure means feeling pushed by other people or things to do better or faster, which can make driving harder.
Concept
driver confidence
Driver confidence means how sure a driver feels about their ability to drive well and handle the car.
Term
guardrail
A guardrail is a strong fence or barrier that stops cars from going off the road or track when they crash.
Term
walkie talkie
A walkie talkie is a small radio that lets people talk to each other without using a phone, especially useful when working outside or in places where phones don't work well.
Term
top fuel driving
Top Fuel driving means racing in the fastest drag racing cars that go super fast in a straight line. The drivers have to be very skilled and strong to handle how quickly the car speeds up.
Concept
bobsledding
Bobsledding is a sport where people ride in a sled down a fast, twisty ice track. It needs good teamwork and control, kind of like racing cars but on ice.
Term
red lit
Red lit means the driver started the race too early, which is not allowed and causes them to lose that race.
Term
two step
Two stepping is when a driver quickly presses and releases the gas pedal repeatedly before starting a race to make the car faster right at the beginning.
Concept
Gator Nationals
The Gator Nationals is a big car race where fast cars compete in drag racing, which means racing in a straight line over a short distance.
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four wide
In a 'four wide' race, four cars race next to each other at the same time instead of just two.
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triple crown races
The triple crown races are three important drag races that racers want to win because they are special and count a lot.
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US Nationals
The US Nationals is a big drag racing event where the best racers compete to win a very important race.
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Indies
Indies means smaller or independent racing teams that race without big company support.
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NHRA championship and countdown
In NHRA drag racing, drivers earn points during the season. The top drivers enter a special final round called the countdown to see who wins the championship.
LIVE
This is Jasmine Salinas, NHRA top fuel driver for Scrappers Racing and you're listening to the JP Emerson Show.
Welcome to the JP Emerson Show, where we ride shotgun as you tell your story.
Here's your host, JP Emerson.
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Today we're joined by one of the most inspiring athletes in motorsports.
She's a top fuel dragster driver whose courage, heart and resilience shine as brightly as her speed on the track.
Her journey is a powerful reminder that strength isn't just about winning races, it's about rising after every setback, leading with purpose and staying true to who you are even when the road gets tough.
From carrying her family's legacy forward to carving out her own place in a sport where she's breaking barriers, every time she suits up, she lifts people all around her.
It's a pleasure to welcome someone whose story encourages all of us to keep going, keep believing and keep choosing courage.
Welcome, Jasmine Salinas. How you doing, Jazz?
I'm doing great. How are you?
I'm doing good. I'm doing good.
Okay, well, we talked about this, so I'm going to lead off with it. This is either going to get cut from this show or not.
So here we go. Try to keep a straight face.
So I'm either going to dazzle you with my brilliance or I'm going to embarrass myself and everyone's going to laugh.
So here we go. Juan, Ying, Jasmine Salinas, Li Dao, Jaimu.
Did I butcher that? Do you know what that means?
I know I only heard the Jazz and Salinas, but here's my response.
I'm going to assume that means something really good. I'm not sure. But for those of you who don't know, Jasmine and I were just talking.
Jasmine took Mandarin studies in college and I just tried to impress her with my Mandarin, which probably didn't work very well.
But I got a blame on Google or something.
I also have to very much give a shout out to our executive partner, Liv, who is currently looking at me through the screen,
wondering what the heck is popping up on her screen.
Liv, I was trying to speak Mandarin. I probably didn't do it. I probably will hear about it.
But here we are.
I thought we did a great job.
Well, good. So now that we've got that out of the way, Jasmine, as we talked just briefly before the show started,
I have not had the opportunity to meet you in person. I've seen you many times at the races.
You happen to hang with many people that I know.
I was just watching your basketball prowess down in Miami, which I think I'm not sure if prowess was the right word.
No, definitely not.
It looked like a lot of fun. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
So I'm originally from California, and I'm the oldest of four girls.
And so I was really fortunate.
I don't know. I love being the oldest of four girls and having surrounded by so many inspiring and powerful women growing up.
My mom is, I think, one of six girls in her family. My dad has five sisters.
And then my grandparents' story, they came as refugees over from Indonesia to the United States.
And so my grandmother's background just really surrounded such a young age of to hear all these women around me that had really empowering stories.
And then as we were growing up, my dad and both my mom, they were always really encouraging us to kind of do whatever we want.
And I always get this question, did your dad ever make you get into racing? How did it go?
And he always told us when we were younger, you can do whatever the boys are doing.
Anything the boys are doing, you guys can do.
And all these little things where I just these little nuggets were my path into racing was, I think, very different from a lot of people's.
I got started really late in racing. I took a long hiatus, went off to college and then found my way back into it.
Despite the fact that my dad, you know, was racing professionally.
It wasn't really something where I knew I wanted to do it.
I just didn't really think it'd be a reality for me.
But just kind of now looking as I'm going into my third year of racing professionally and top fuel in the NHRA series.
It's pretty cool to see all these little nuggets that have, you know, kind of like slowly guided me in my own unique path to find myself here racing professionally.
And yeah, it's been such an incredible journey and I've met so many different people.
And I think also to just like watching myself and my journey growing in the sport has been really exciting.
And it's one of the reasons why I really love drag racing is that it forces you to kind of figure out who you are going to be puts you in a corner a lot of times.
And yeah, I don't know. I feel like I can keep going on about myself. There's so many different directions.
Well, that's OK. That's the really cool part about especially meeting new people such as yourself.
There's so many facets to their life that takes them on the path that they're on.
Maybe you didn't start on the path. Maybe you won't finish on that path, but it's the path that you're on right now.
It is. It's fascinating. Once again, we were talking about common people that we know and the different paths that they took to get here.
And it's not just an individual in a race car.
You know, when you go to the races, you know, those are those are the people.
They're the face that you see there. That's that's, you know, in your case, it's the name on the side of a car going by at 330 miles an hour that you see.
And if you have the opportunity to, you know, visit the pitch, you get to see the people, you know, within.
But there's so much more to this sport. You know, when you think about professional sports and you guys very much are athletes, again, we see what you guys have to go through.
But when you think about professional sports, for the most part, you go to a game or an event and you pay your money to watch an event and you leave.
And you think that that's all these people have going on in their lives is, you know, they're a professional basketball player or football player.
And there's much more to them. And that's one of the most fascinating things about drag racing is you get to be part of that with him.
You get to be upfront and close and at the ropes and meeting people.
Unlike any other sport that I can that I can think of, motorsports definitely, especially, you know, NHRA or, you know, the IHRA has it down.
Do you feel that that that people know you better because of what you do or your interactions with them?
Or do you think you're still kind of finding your way as the face of or a face as part of your team?
You know, I do believe that if I was racing in another series where the fans did not have so, you know, much access to the drivers as they do in NHRA, I think it'd be a lot more challenging.
I do feel that for the most part, I've been able to really share a lot about myself with other fans and be able to connect with them.
Social media has been a really huge place where I have also done that and been able to reach a lot more people who aren't able to come out to the track all the time.
And it's pretty wild. I think my like my fan base, like when you look at the statistics for like social media, it's, you know, probably the United States and then we go straight into like Mexico and then a lot of other Brazils and other big one.
And then, you know, so it's pretty wild to see kind of like the reach of what you're able to have on social media.
And then another thing that I think is even cool and kind of adding another layer to that is the new vice docu series that just came out chasing speed.
It's a six part episode series. And that series, I think, you know, has done a really good job of getting to go beyond what, you know, the Fox, Fox like live broadcast.
Just, you know, the maybe 10 seconds clip that you get of getting to see somebody's face.
And when you have your fan interaction, sometimes at the race weekend, sometimes you're really busy. Sometimes you want to make sure you can see everybody.
So you don't really get a lot of one on one time as you'd like.
And so I think the docu series has been really awesome to show the other side where to be honest, I think a lot of drivers are really nervous and hesitant to want to show.
But through the trust that the production company team had built with us, you know, over the course of the year, I think everybody really let their guards down and was really willing to show some sort of vulnerability.
I know another side that I think drivers on NHRA kind of within the past maybe 10 years have been maybe a little hesitant.
And I feel like it's starting to resurface again and kind of being willing to show another side of ourselves beyond just the, you know, polished, perfect, perfect picture that we'd like to put out and present to all the fans.
And I think for me also to being very introverted and very shy and quiet drag racing has really helped me to, you know, be able to connect and find something, you know, beyond the fact that, hey, we all like racing, but with something else, you know, that's deeper and where I can connect with people.
And I think for me, even though I'm very quiet and shy and reserved on the other side, I feel like I've also tried to be very open about, you know, past struggles and things that I've worked with, you know, worked on both personally and at the racetrack.
And I was really nervous when I started sharing certain personal things early on and I found that the reception from everybody was just really supportive and really connecting.
And the amount of people that I've heard from over the years to say like, I struggled with the same thing, you know, I have the same problems, the amount of parents that have come and shared, you know, saying that their children are struggling with certain things.
Mental health has been a big thing that I've been very open and willing to share with other people about my struggles with. And I think it's been really awesome and cool to see that so many people can connect with that.
And maybe, you know, kind of see a little bit of their struggles is not, you know, they're being the only ones going through that other people can go through it.
And I don't know, I just think being able to connect people on like, just the human level like that really helps bring down this. I don't know.
I always grew up with this image of people in these top fuel cars and racing as they are these large in the life, strong, powerful people, you know, that were super humans and they could do anything and why can I be like them someday and then I think, as I got into the sport and started meeting
more people and realizing they're just like everybody else. And that was a really humbling experience for me to kind of reset how I looked at other people and just kind of realize like, Hey, we're all human and we all go through these different things and
realizing maybe if there's somebody else out there that's struggling with something like me, it might help them as well. And so I've really enjoyed being able to try to use my platform in the space of motorsports to try to show up beyond just a driver going through into 30 miles an hour.
Sure. Sure. You know, it's great hearing you say that. And again, previous to our show here today, when we were when we were talking, you know, we talked about that that's very similar to the way we approach our show is is, you know, everybody's got something in common.
You know, this is, for lack of a better word, this is your job. This is what you do. But, but people, you know, they like the race team, they like the cars, they like the colors, but they want to connect with the people they want to connect. And that and again, falling back on that's
something that motorsports does better than anyone else. But, you know, for someone like yourself, you know, there's, there's, there's a young girl out there or even a young boy out there that says, you know, I want to do that, but I'm having trouble with my math, you know, if you said, Yeah, I can't do multiplication.
You know, he's going to say, Hey, I like this person, you know, you know, they want to find that commonality with, with people. And that's, and that's really the crux of everything. It's, you know, people want to support other people. You know, I know that's cliche to say, but they do.
You know, they, they, they've got their favorite teams and drivers and whatever, but they want to be able to feel like they can approach you at the rope and say, you know, look at this spelling test or whatever, whatever it is that you mentioned you had a problem with, because they did as well.
But yeah, you made a great point. You know, these people are, are, are larger than life.
John forces retired. So he is larger than life. But, but, you know, these, these are the people, you know, when you talk NASCAR, you think of Earnhardt or someone, you know, when, you know, we, we spoke with Don Prudhomme a year or so ago.
And he told the story about his first race and his first race was not in a car. His first race was on roller skates, roller skates for a Coke. That's what he raced for.
And how many people out there, you know, especially, especially the older generation that were at skating rinks racing for a Coke, just like Don Prudhomme did.
So, again, I got a little off, off base here, but you got to tell me, because we get this all the time, because, you know, it's like, hey, we would ask people, hey, this person's coming on.
Is there any questions that you want to ask? One of the questions we get all the time is, is we do ask it and everyone says, well, nothing, I'm really focusing on the finish line.
But what's going through your mind at 330 miles an hour rocketing down the track?
Um, I mean, yeah, it's such a crazy experience when I first started racing top fuel and you're getting the license going to process.
I remember I'd hit the gas and then I get to the finish line and my brain was still trying to catch up and process everything.
So I remember I'd be there and I'd be like, whoa, what just happened? How did I get here?
And slowly over time, it was really cool to start seeing my brain being able to slow down.
I'm like, okay, nah, I'm at 330. Okay. Now I see where I'm at. Oh, I see this car next to me.
I see they just put a hole out there and it was wild to see how your brain was slowing down.
And so I don't know if there's anything really beyond what's actually happening on the track where, you know, I'm definitely processing what's happening and going on around me and looking for it on the track.
Yeah, but I know as what I like to do and it's like a little special thing I do is when I'm in my car and I'm in the water box and get the call and they said, okay, you know, start it up and they turn over the motor.
I'll close my eyes and I'll smile really big and I'll just like tell myself like I'll put myself in a space of like gratitude.
And I'm just like, I'm so grateful to be here. Let's have some fun. And that's the mindset. So even though, you know, while I'm going 330, I'm like, wow, this is awesome.
You know, sometimes I'm like, holy, like, damn, this is incredible. But I at least try to put myself in like a really great and positive space right before we go so that my attention going through the run is that, you know, I know I'm going to have fun even if I'm not like mentally thinking of it in that moment.
Yeah, I was going to ask you, do you have like an internal monologue that you do just before a race that, you know, and you briefly just touched on it but, you know, many people, you know, especially the younger racers that we interact with, you know, they're talking about getting their game face on and doing these things.
I mean, what do you do that may be counterintuitive to to that to to bring you back to center? I sound like a yoga instructor or something. But, you know, there's got to be something that that, you know, you can either look at it and say, you know, I'm scared to death of doing this.
You know, I hope nothing happens or I'm doing this. You know, what do you do?
I mean, I feel like my emotions will definitely kind of like ebb and flow throughout the race weekend, especially if I'm not racing. I when I switched over from racing full time my rookie year to now being on a part time schedule.
And sometimes I'm out of the car for six months and I have to jump right back in and you know just keep, you know, hit the gas like I haven't missed a beat.
That's really hard mentally to try to, you know, just jump right back in while everyone else, most of the people around you know kind of racing consistently been doing this for 20 years.
So I kind of like joke and like we'll say like sometimes I have to like almost gaslight myself.
And so when I am having those moments where I am a little hesitant or nervous, you know, I think having nerves are good. I think it's healthy to have nerves and what we're doing.
I think if you ever hear people saying oh you shouldn't you're not nervous then I mean one I don't think they've probably crashed it is my kind of thing.
So I'm a big proponent of like having nerves and like anxiousness is really good.
But on the other end you have to be able to manage them to the point where you can still show up and do your job so yeah sometimes I'm definitely like have my little hype up music or when it's like maybe today I'm not feeling you know like confident and on top of the world.
But I have to jump into a race car and go through to 30 miles an hour so I'll like have my little hype music and hype me up.
I'm like yeah like I'm not five foot two I'm like six feet tall I'm like I'm being like baddest mother you know person out here.
It's these little things where it's like I would never in person talk about myself like this but I have to hype myself up sometimes and then just also sometimes I'll just be like well you know it's only three seconds like it's only three seconds.
That's it if you're scared it's only three seconds and sometimes I'll just like literally like tell myself that like in the mornings if I'm getting a little like anxious about the day.
Like I'm pretty sure like so I've been I haven't raced since October of last year so it's going to be a little while and we're not doing any preseason testing we're just jumping straight into Q1 at Gainesville.
So I'm pretty sure like going into like Gainesville like Friday morning I'm going to be like it's okay it's just three seconds what can happen and just like completely like you know pretending and pushing all of those fears back.
And then another thing that I think a lot of other drivers do is definitely just to help manage all of my like nerves and fears and anxiety is I will just probably you know replay and like rethink perfect runs in my head.
So I'll go through the procedure and then instead of focusing on my anxieties and my fears I'll just start focusing on okay well I already know the procedures I know exactly what I'm supposed to do in the car.
And I will just literally sit there and then just go through the entire process like physically you know with my hands physically with my feet.
Look around where I know I'm supposed to be looking depending on what lane we're going to be running in and I will literally just focus on that and that definitely helps bring my anxiety down and kind of put me like in a place where I need to go and get hit the gas.
Sure. Sure.
Let's talk real quick about you mentioned a hype up song you know we've talked about this with many racers that have been on our show.
What does it for you and then I'm going to hit on on something someone asked specifically to ask the next racer that was on but but what's the hype up song for you what does it for you or or songs.
I have a whole playlist and I'm pretty sure I've like shared it on my Instagram I can like reshare it again it's on Spotify.
But it's definitely makes it like hip hop scream oh and then like I've like looked up like woman empowerment songs to just like where you just like feel like you're on top of the world and like nobody can pull you down.
Yeah I think that songs that definitely maybe like you look at me and don't match my personality.
A lot of things my mom probably wouldn't like to hear.
But it's all these things that I don't know maybe get you a little angry get you a little like pumped up and you're like blood flowing.
So I feel like I have a really good solid playlist.
Yeah OK.
Well I'll hit you up for that a little later to find out what what mom wouldn't want to know that you're listening to is.
We don't we don't typically talk about this but you know I wouldn't it wouldn't be honest to you had an incident in Gainesville.
What what did that teach you about or what went on in your mind after not not immediately after but getting back into the car and saying what what pushed you past that what what puts that fear behind you and what did you learn about your fear after that incident.
Yeah so when I crashed in twenty one in Gainesville it was during the fourth round of qualifying and I made a decision to pedal a race car which I know you never supposed to do in qualifying.
I was qualified originally like first and first qualified number one and then I think I got bumped on to number two.
And there was a lot of outside external pressure on me to try to you know maintain that number one qualifier spot.
And as a new driver I allowed a lot of that outside noise to kind of go in and make you know encourage me to kind of make a decision in racing that I knew wasn't you're supposed to do.
And then on the same side of that you know it was combined with I was running really great is my second season of racing and I was really new and I think I allowed myself to kind of be a little cocky and I allowed my confidence to switch over into something that you should never do.
And so it was kind of like a you know perfect role in situation and where all these worst case scenario things happened all at once.
And learning from that whole experience and having it happen so early on in my career I'm so grateful for it absolutely put me in check you know.
And after that I know my biggest and literally after the moment I pulled myself out of the race car and I looked and realized where I was and I you know over the guardrail and I was in the mud and I was looking around and I remember to scream me and yelling I was like I need to do that over again like I was like I swear like that I can do so much better.
And what fueled me and push helped push me through beyond my fears and everything was just like I knew I was a lot better I knew I was a lot more capable than what I had showed everybody.
And I realized the mistakes that I had made what I allowed you know my cockiness as a young driver, allowing to you know make a decision based off of what other people are telling me instead of listening to myself and what I knew was right.
And all of that fueled me to want to go back and show people like look I know I'm a lot better than what I showed you and let me prove it to you and I wanted to.
I guess maybe in addition to like earn other people's trust back like earn my own trust back and be like no look like I know I can fix this I know I can be a lot better of a driver.
And yeah it was such a it was really hard when we I think we had a new car built about a month after after my crash and I remember having to put the helmet and every all the gear back on and sit right back in the car.
And we were over at Richie Crampton's shop and we were getting suited up. And I remember they were having me sit in and like putting the seatbelts on.
And I remember started crying. And so Richie Crampton who's also you know was racing and it's also experienced crashes himself you know he kind of sent everybody away and he had like a really great talk with me and he's like hey like just close your eyes take some deep breaths he's like we've all been through it.
And I think in that moment here like holy shit okay like I you know I felt bad I was like I'm just some young girl crying and nobody's going to get it and it's like he's like no we've all been here.
He's like everybody's crashed his down through it he's like just take your time and go through it and we were able to he was able to kind of show me like just calm down take some deep breaths and so for the first several races I don't really I don't know if I really told anybody this but I definitely anytime I get in the car.
I would shut everything off just focus on what I needed to do and then the moment you know I cross the finish line I've just break down crying in tears. And it was a lot of it was just a sense of like okay I did it wow like I was so afraid this was honestly the most
scary terrifying thing I had to do I was afraid I'd make another mistake again I was afraid of all the criticism that I knew people had been giving me saying shouldn't be in this car she doesn't belong here.
And every single time I just keep pushing through and pushing through and you know blocking out the outside world. It felt more and more like okay like you did that now go do it again and that's something that I've definitely now taken and you know used in my life outside of racing where anytime there's
been something I'm nervous about or scared or intimidated I'm like well you crashed a race car and then you got inside the race car and then you kept on going and then you started winning and you so I kind of use this list of like all these things that you're afraid to do.
And you did it anyways like look at how it made you feel like so this next thing that you're trying to do, whether you know you're afraid of speaking in front of, you know, a group of people or you know nervous to go do something by yourself like all these little little small little things I have in my head on a daily
basis outside of racing. I'll definitely reference back to this and still to this day, definitely use it as like look what you've done. Yeah, it was, I feel like I've always tried to have been also very vocal about you know facing your fears and being fearless and on when I'm
signing autographs for kids and all my little hero cards for kids I'll always try to if I have time right, always be fearless and kind. And I always put that, not because you know I think being fearless means having no fear, but I think always try to tell them you know
being fearless means you know, doing something despite the fact that you're afraid. And I always have a little kid saying I'm so afraid how could you do this and I always tell them that I was like, I'm getting afraid all the time like I'm scared of things all the time and I'll still go do it despite the fact that I'm scared.
And I think that's a really powerful lesson that I learned. My gosh, I think you made a great point because I know we do have a lot of young racers that happen to be listeners and there's two points that I want to make.
And I think this goes back to what especially the younger racers are facing right now. You said, maybe you were you were getting a lot of pressure from the outside there's a lot of outside noise and and and that that one sentence sums up everything that you hear kids saying all the time.
You know, whether it's racing or social media or their lives or whatever it is there's and not listening to themselves what they know is right what they what they know they can do better.
You know, and they may not yet be ready to say okay maybe I was getting a little cocky or maybe I thought I was a little better than I was at this stage but it's such an important lesson to to hear somebody especially a professional like yourself saying, you know, it's natural to to read your
You know, it's natural to to listen to to people who have been there and I'm sure many of them meant well, but but it's not it wasn't exactly for you.
And the other thing is, you mentioned the word I don't know if you even realize, you know, you said it, you know, she doesn't belong here.
She's not ready for this or she's not good enough for this.
We've talked about this on the show many times, especially with you with other female racers.
Do you, I certainly see it. Do you see a major shift in, you know, again, we've the car doesn't know whether it's a male or female driver.
The only people that know it are the people in the stands that aren't in the seats, you know, that that aren't crashing over a wall or, you know, or losing.
It's, it's easy. It's easy to be the armchair quarterback boy that's a reference. But, you know, do you do you feel any male female disparity in in motorsports especially in where you're racing, or do you think it's
it's more outside the sport than it is the people that you race with people that you work with, you know, the other teams, you know, what's your thought on that.
I, I think for myself personally, I've been very grateful and fortunate that if there has ever been any, you know, negative feedback pertaining to, you know, the fact that I'm a woman it generally comes from people outside of our sport, or honestly kind of older men, older
men who just happened to just not be a fan of me, which is fine. And then they just, I just assume, you know, there's pulling out the fact that I'm a girl for whatever reason. But for the most part, you know, I, the respect that we receive from other competitors, other crew members, crew chiefs,
the entire organization as a whole. It is really, really special and unique. And I think that's something that is very special to NHRA. When I do speak to other female drivers and racers, you know, who work in these, you know, started racing 10, 15, 20 years
ago, their stories are very, very different. Their experiences are very, very different. And a lot of the struggles that I think a lot of other female racers are experiencing in other forms of motor sports.
There's are the same, if not, were worse. So these women that have been out here racing in NHRA have definitely paved the path for other women like myself to be able to show up in the sport where we're not having any pushback, we're not having anybody, you know, pulling these really nasty things on us at the track or do you know, just do
being a lot, doing a lot of shady things. And I've heard some really awful stories, unfortunately. And these women, you know, they didn't take any of it. And they, you know, stayed going through what they wanted to do.
Didn't let anybody tell them they didn't belong. And so I'm really grateful for everything that they've done in the sport. And so I try to carry that with me and think, you know, what else can I do out here, you know, for the sport to help, you know, the next generation of women that are going to be coming up into the sport and make
sure that it's even easier and seamless for them, that there's nothing going on. So there are the cars don't know anything, the fans don't really seem to care, neither do competitors. But at the end of the day, the experience that a female driver will have and some of the things that we are going through is going to be very different than some of the things that our male competitors are going to have to go through.
There's certain things that we're learning a lot with just kind of, you know, just some of the fan interactions maybe aren't the most positive or the most safest for some of the females. And that's something that, you know, even my dad, like he's just like, I'm just, you know, I'm friendly and cool with everybody.
He's also like a 65 year old man. And it's like, when you have a lot of young women, like, there's certain other things that are going on that we're, you know, now starting to bring to attention with NHRA and we're working on trying to make it, you know, more safer and positive space for everyone.
So there's little things but that I think are unfortunately always going to exist in our society. But collectively, there's a group of women that, you know, again, we're not taking any of that we're making sure that we it's a safe space for everybody present and then also coming into the future.
So I think I'm just really grateful that, you know, we're, I'm part of NHRA Drag Racing and that was a sport and that's kind of just always been the mindset is, you know, my dad always said, you can do whatever you want.
You know, you can do whatever the boys are doing, if not better. And that mindset, I think at least currently now in NHRA definitely exists and it's really awesome and I hope that it continues to spread into other forms of motorsport.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Let me put you on the spot here a little.
Eventually we'll see if any of your, any of your family is listening because we're going to pull no punches here. So describe for me a Salinas family argument at the track.
Hmm. I'm going to be honest, we've not really had many arguments at the track, which is really nice. I think if we do have them, they're away.
I think all families, all families have, you know, their disagreements. It's hard, especially for anybody that, you know, has a family business.
So we've had a family business. So we're used to working together, you know, going to school together, living together, doing everything, traveling on the road together.
And then when all three of us were racing together, my dad, Gianna and I, you know, doing all of this and it was, it's a lot.
And you speak to any other family in racing out there, like they can attest like, yes, we have our moments.
But I think for our family, especially we've always been, hey, if there's any disagreements, we go have it in the lounge, like we're very big on people are always watching, you know, there's always somebody around looking at you.
So we try to be very thoughtful of that, but I'm going to be honest, I don't, if we have any disagreements, it's definitely my sisters and I against my dad.
And so my dad's always I can see that he's always like, you know, it's me against these five women in the house.
And so he jokes that he has like a bunch of male dogs to kind of like counteract the male versus female dynamic.
Yeah. And I think, you know, again, like growing up seeing so many powerful women in our family, like my sisters and I, like, we did not take anything from our dad.
I know we definitely like gave him a lot of gray hairs and he's probably the reason why he doesn't have any hair now is because of us always, you know, not being afraid to back down or stand up to him.
So yeah, there's not luckily there's not really many arguments or disagreements but if there is anything.
I think it's definitely more of like a debate now style where Gianna and I will like have a whole list of like evidence and like this is why we know we're right.
And this is our opinion and this is why we know you're wrong.
He just has to sit there and look at a debate as that's a special way of saying we're right and you're wrong.
So if your family wasn't racing, what would your family business actually be?
So our family business that we actually have before we started racing, it's called Valley Services.
They've had the business for close to 40 years now.
And it is a site services and trash business.
We do now we've expanded into like rental porta potties and fencing, but it's we were trash babies.
We grew up where all the kids we went to school with their parents were like doctors and lawyers and we were the trash kids and my dad would come pick us up.
You know, he was hauling something to the landfill so he picked Jackie and I up very illegal my sister and I and put us in this, you know, the passenger seat of the truck and whenever we were going over the scales he would just like lower seat.
And we were just like go down because it couldn't fit a cart like two car seats in there.
And then after school, you know, he'd bring us back and once the yard was closed down.
I was the first thing I ever drove I was four years old and he put us put me inside of a caterpillar excavator, and he gave me a walkie talkie put my booster seat in there and he's like okay Jasmine, go pick up that red car over there.
So I was like driving around all the customers were gone, and we were like picking up trash and cars and moving them around and so that was like what I learned to drive was a massive excavator.
Nice.
So we still call ourselves trash babies to my sister still work at the family business with their husbands.
So we've always been, you know, like working people working we kind of did a couple sport, you know, sports I was never really good to mostly sat on the bench.
But for the most part, everything that we did had to revolve around us always being at the family business and working we grew up every single summer working there.
After college I was working there too and so racing was supposed to be this, you know, escape for my dad and this little escape for my family and sisters you need to go have fun and and then my dad being the person he is you know he's can't just go have fun
and relax he has to start another business.
So what turned into a family hobby is ultimately turned into the second business where now I reside in Indiana, me and my partner Adam who's also our assistant cruciate we both now run the race team.
Okay.
I can see you driving an excavator.
Let me change up a little bit.
We literally just finished the winter Olympics just the other day.
I don't know how much opportunity to get to watch it.
I tend to just watch highlights because that's that's the time I get.
But if top fuel driving were an Olympic sport.
What would you cross train in and let's call it the for the winter Olympics. Yeah.
Um, I'm going to sound embarrassing.
What is the bobsledding right?
Yeah, I would say I am going to be honest I have not watched as much of the Olympics this year as I had hoped, but I'm going to say probably bobsledding because I was like watching videos of them trying to do it and
I like didn't really realize like when you're like in there and they are like turning corners and going so fast and like you're literally just like launching another human down this thing.
Very similar to what drag racing is you're literally putting a human in this long cockpit and then just launching them down the track.
So I would say bobsledding.
You know what's funny is I was thinking that maybe what you said it was either bobsledding or
I was at the sculling or whatever it is where they're laying on the on the base first I mean I can I can see that but but something that had to go with with going fast.
So, we'll have a little fun here a little more fun that we've already been having so
your dragster has a personality.
What, what would it complain about you the most for
I don't know.
I mean, gosh, maybe when I'm angry in the car after a run and I like hit it and it's probably some hitting me.
Okay.
All right.
All right.
Yeah.
Well, okay.
You're, you've just finished a run you got your helmet on nobody can hear you.
What are you screaming.
Remember you can say anything on this show.
Oh, I mean, there's definitely a lot of cuss words in there if it's like a bad if it's a bad run.
I'm like God saying it you know whatever but if it's something that I know I did as a driver then that's where it's like I'm never you know yelling or getting mad at what my crew did.
If the car doesn't perform it's like well, you know, that didn't work or whatever but if it's something that I did.
And I know like I you know cut a bad light or I couldn't you know catch it to pedal it in time or something like where I could have fixed it.
That's where I'm like letting it all out and I'm so angry and it's definitely like taking out like once I'm in the car is like that's my little like avatar like we are one.
So it's like if we're not connected and it's like one of us is letting the other down it's like I'm definitely getting mad at me or I'm getting mad at maybe the car but not like my career anything.
We've been talking about because I don't wear a radio in my car and so we've been talking about maybe putting one in this year.
The reason why I haven't worn one is because I like I don't think that they can like separate their like conversations that they're having like wall like form in the water box and once we start the car and then I feel like hearing all this other little noise might be just
But I think there's definitely moments where it's like sometimes I'm like, I'd love to have something back right now or something back to you guys.
Maybe if we get a radio they might start hearing something.
Now, obviously, you know, especially when you're when you're racing against people that that you know you race against essentially the same group of people in different parts of the country.
And as I mentioned, you know, I've seen your videos I know who your buddies are but at some point there has to be a little bit of trash talk going on inside the helmet anyway.
So if someone was talking trash to you, what is your trash talk line? What are you definitely saying back to them?
See, this is like, that's the one thing I'm so bad at. And so it's like luckily nobody's saying anything back to me because it's like I'm the kind of person where it's like somebody will come and like say something to me.
And I'm just like, okay. And then like, like two days later, I'm like taking a shower. I was like, oh, I should have said this all in the middle of the night.
I was like, oh, this is what I should have said in the argument. So it's like, I'm not great at trash talking.
I have my partner Adam, he's he's so great at it like he will run his mouth like he can like have something quick with it to say, I am not quick with it.
I'm very slow. I'm like, okay, I'm processing what you're saying. I'm processing what I want to say back.
So if we're like trash talking, I'm not good at it.
So maybe if I can get some like notes or some feedback, usually so far, luckily, nobody's trash talked anything to me really.
I don't know. I mean, yeah, maybe I should start preparing.
Well, that's all right. That's all right. That says a lot.
So if I if I'm if I'm putting you to the side for a second, I'm talking to your crew chief, what tool does he use that would describe you best?
Oh, wow.
I don't really think about that one. What tool does he use to describe me best?
I'll say something small.
Okay, small.
I don't know.
I feel like now that you're asking me, I'm like, of course, now I'm blanking like what's the tool.
Okay, that's all right. That's all right.
Something small, something small, maybe something can like pop in his pocket.
Okay.
Maybe he has a pager.
A pager. Okay.
A lot of the crews have pagers.
Okay.
Something small that you don't really like.
He's really wanted to do his job and just show up, not talk.
Okay, well, so much like this at this particular point in time.
What is your that just happened? I just said that I swear I'm a professional moment. What is that most embarrassing thing you're like you said you might go back two days later in the shower and said I should have said that.
What happened to you that today you're cool with sharing to millions of people that you say, oh man, I wish I could have done that.
I think for me, which a lot of people like I have like really liked it, which is kind of weird.
But I get so I'm the kind of person where when I'm frustrated, I'll cry because I don't, I don't like throwing my gear. I know a lot of other drivers will do that.
Maybe one day I'll get there, but I'm kind of person where it's like I like to hold everything in and because of that and getting really frustrated.
So I cry a lot.
And the one thing I get so mad at myself for is like when I start crying, like during my top end interviews when I'm frustrated.
And like, I'll watch those interviews and it's like so cringy and I'm like, no, like I'm like, I'm so much like more powerful and like I was sad because I lost I was crying.
You know, because I was like angry or like there's one specific one where I was like crying because I was happy and I couldn't contain myself.
I think it was in Pomona when Steve Torrance had like, like two stepped in like red leg against me and I won and I like could it process my words right so I just looked like I was just like breaking down crying.
I was like, I just want to get Steve Torrance but it's like, in that moment what I wish I had been able to like convey was that like, for me Steve Torrance has always been like this like bad motherfucker guy.
Like he's been this guy where it's like, to be honest, that day I was so afraid to race him.
I was so afraid to race him.
I, there's not a lot of people where I'm just like, God damn it.
Like I don't want to line up against this person and he's always made me feel that way because they have been just so incredible with what their program has done him as a driver.
And honestly, like I remember before I started racing, like when he was like really like peeking in his championship, like he wasn't maybe the nicest person either.
You know, like I remember him kind of like giving some like smack talk to Brittany.
This is before he became dad, like now that he's a girl dad, he's like total different personality.
But it was like, I remember like genuinely like being afraid of him growing up and then like getting to line up against him and like seeing him do that.
Like for me in that moment when he like this guy that was, you know, this multi-time champion, this guy was so afraid of racing and he two stepped and red lit against me and I was like, he's just human.
And so for me, like all of this like built up that I had about him, like was completely squashed in that moment.
And I was trying to process that while also processing, you know, just like the fact that we won the fact that it was really hard.
I didn't know if, you know, if this was going to be my last race because we were struggling with funding.
And so there was so much emotion and it all just came out in like this like bubbling like babbling little like crying interview.
And it's like, I wish like I could have conveyed like, Hey, like this guy was so scary and look what we just beat him.
And it's like, it didn't come out that way.
So I was like sad.
You know, what's interesting is, you know, you talk about your racing and driving and of course, you know, nobody does it alone.
You know, there's an entire crew and not just the ones that work on the cars, but you know, you got, you know, truck drivers and people that are, you know, I mean, there's there's so many opportunities in racing.
But if I'm going to focus on the crew here for a second, and I'm not going to ask you, Hey, you know, who's your favorite crew member or anything like that.
Again, I'm going to try to try to poke the bear a little.
So your crew is now doing household chores.
Who's doing what?
So we have right now we have like three full time guys and then everyone else flying.
So as far as like the full the full time we have Todd Okahar crew chief house chores.
Maybe he's like, making sure that the TV is working.
He's like absorbing and watching everyone.
Adam Cave, our assistant crew chief, he is probably like running around like cooking and then Cole Fergen, who's our car chief, he is probably cleaning up after one's messes.
And so Todd's probably just kind of like looking over everybody just making sure like, yep, this needs to be done.
This needs to be done.
Adam's like frantically like cutting vegetables in the corner and Cole's probably like cleaning up all the messes.
Okay. Okay.
I can see that.
Okay.
So one of the last questions here is, you know, you know, you think about, you know, the sponsors that do the races.
And again, you know, I go back to, you know, my very first time at Gainesville, you know, I thought to myself, why are they handing out flour tortillas?
You know, what is the deal here?
So I ask a lot of people this.
What's going on?
The tacos that you're making for yourself.
What is your must have?
I mean, I love just like a good like carne asada.
I like onions, cilantro, like the really basic street tacos.
And then like some mild salsa, like I'm a very simple taco person.
I know some people, yeah, I think some people love to add like the cheese and sour cream, but it's like, no, like tacos or it's like, it's got to be street taco style.
So it's like, you don't like add all that other stuff is keep it simple.
Keep the good meat, make it juicy.
And like, that's all you need.
Okay. All right.
What, what track has the best food?
I mean, there's got to be a junk food or one of those things that you say, you know, it's my cheat weekend.
I'm having this.
I've heard ice cream at the tracks.
I've heard tacos.
I've heard so many things.
What does it for you?
I think for me, I mean, definitely Norwalk with the ice cream, but I'd say also growing up in California, I never had cheese curds until I went to Brainerd, Minnesota.
And they have this like really cute like cheese curd bucket with like a mouse on it and you can get it like a different sizes.
And the first time I had a cheese curd, I was blown away.
I was like, what, how have I been living without having tried before.
So anytime I'm in Brainerd, I try to go like sneak a bucket of cheese curds.
I'm like, Hey guys, this is for like the whole team.
And it's like, I'll eat like most of them.
But like, I think that's my like favorite go to.
Okay. All right.
I gotta ask morning person or evening person, which, which do you prefer?
Definitely an evening person.
I'm not a morning person.
I, I feel like I'm not fully, I get myself up early, but like mentally, like I don't feel like I'm present or they are ready to do anything.
Until like 10, 30, 11.
So late at night, evening person, like that's when I'm like flourishing.
Okay. All right.
Well, Jasmine, what's next for you?
Obviously we know you have the Gators coming up, but, but you have a pretty full schedule.
I mean, again, you know, I've only seen bits and pieces of, of, of the show, but what's coming up?
What's next for you?
What are you looking forward to? Is there a track you're looking forward to?
What's, what's the big thing on your schedule for this year?
This year we have, we're starting off at the Gator Nationals.
And we're also, we're doing a mixed NHRA, IHRA schedule, which is really great for our part time teams.
So we're going to skip all West Coast races.
Unfortunately, costs of travel is expensive.
So while the NHRA group is out running Phoenix and Pomona, we're going to do the first two IHRA races.
And then we'll make our way back for Charlotte for the four wide.
But on our schedule, we also have the triple crown races, the three ones that IHRA is putting on.
Those ones were really excited about the purses are pretty big.
We're hearing some, we're hearing some other teams are going to be coming out that you might not be expecting.
So that should be really fun.
But most of all, I'm just really excited that I have more races on my schedule.
Last year we did a total of six races, which was really challenging.
And we, you know, we competed really well, despite the fact that we only did six races.
The first four races, you know, we were anywhere from three, number three to five in points.
And then we didn't drop out of the top 10 in points up until right before the US Nationals and Indies.
So car performance wise, that was really exciting.
My ultimate goal would be to still for the NHRA structure.
I've always wanted to compete for a championship.
And while I may not be able to compete for a championship this year,
my goal is to at least try to make it still into the top 10 in the countdown.
And the structure is for NHRA.
If you compete for all the races, then you're automatically going to compete for the championship and countdown.
If you don't compete for all the races, then you have to stay in the top 10 in points, leaving Indie.
And we were so close to doing that last year with just the five races that we had done,
which, you know, speaks, you know, so much to like how well our team was doing,
how well the performance was in comparison to everybody else.
And so my goal would be to try to maintain our position throughout the NHRA regular season to then hopefully qualify in the top 10.
So we can be, you know, at least, you know, mess up some people's championship countdowns.
And then at the same time, compete really well in NHRA, hopefully get some more money,
and then we can add some more NHRA races.
Yeah, yeah.
Jasmine, how can people find you, follow you on socials, on the web,
especially people that, you know, believe it or not, not everybody knows everybody,
but, you know, they certainly know, they certainly know the scrapper's name.
So this is kind of our little way of introducing you to our listeners.
But how can they find you?
How can they, how can they tell you what they're not good at?
Yeah.
What's the best way to do that?
So Instagram, TikTok, not really doing on TikTok, but I have one there,
Instagram, TikTok, Facebook.
I have a YouTube channel that I'm working on this year trying to put out some more blogs for everybody.
I know a lot of people like the behind the scenes stuff.
But my handle is going to be the same for everything.
It's going to be Jazz Salinas, J-A-S-S-A-L-I-N-A-S-S.
Just look that up for Jazz and Salinas, Scrappers Racing.
I should pop up in one of those, but I love trying to share as much behind the scenes of my life outside of racing,
outside of the track, you know, like just showing my little routine with my dogs and all these little things where it's like,
oh my God, my dog, Stevie, the Pomeranian, like he has a huge following and a fan base.
And so many people love him.
And that was just like another cool thing that I found, like just sharing my funny videos and my dog.
And I have so many people all the time bringing up treats and gifts for him still at the races.
And so I just love being able to connect with people and, you know, have something to, you know,
not a lot of people can connect to the fact that, you know, I go through in a 30 miles an hour and race a, you know, race a car for a living.
But I think they connect with some, a lot of my other sides.
And so those are the things that I do like to share as much as I can with people on social media.
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
Jasmine, I really do appreciate you taking the time to, to join us.
We look forward to, I know we will personally be in Gainesville and not too long.
So, so we'll be coming, we'll be coming by to see you and, and I'll practice my Mandarin a little bit more.
So, but we do appreciate you taking the time to join us.
We wish you the best of luck and yeah, we will definitely look forward to, to Pomeranian videos and background information.
But thank you so much.
And I will see you actually in just a couple of weeks.
Perfect. Perfect. I look forward to seeing you then.
This was really great, great time.
I love being on the show and I hope to be back on it someday soon.
Absolutely. Well, thanks again.
Thanks for riding along with us.
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About this episode
Jasmine Salinas, a top fuel NHRA dragster driver, shares her unique journey into professional racing, shaped by her family's legacy and personal resilience. She discusses breaking barriers in a male-dominated sport, the importance of mental health openness, and connecting with fans beyond the track through social media and a new docu-series. Jasmine reflects on the human side of racing, emphasizing vulnerability and authenticity in a high-speed, high-pressure environment, while inspiring others to embrace courage and perseverance.
Original notes
Proving you can be gentle in spirit and absolutely ruthless on the throttle, Jasmine Salinas straps into her Top Fuel Nitro Powered Dragster with the perfect blend of kindness and fire, Join us as she opens up about the crash that tested her, the courage that rebuilt her, and the quiet strength that makes her one of the most compelling forces in racing today. She’s a powerhouse with a smile, a warrior with empathy, and she’s racing toward greatness at 330 miles per hour.
Connect with Jasmine here: [email protected]
Website: https://www.jasminesalinasracing.com
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jassalinass
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