Salinas tops Top Fuel qualifying at NHRA 4-Wide Nationals

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Mike Salinas took the No. 1 qualifying spot in Top Fuel on Saturday at the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.

Salinas had a zMAX Dragway-record time of 3.687 seconds at 327.43 mph Friday night. He raced to his first career victory April 7 at the four-wide event in Las Vegas.

“We knew (on Friday) that the track might not hold much,” Salinas said. “Alan (Johnson, tuner) is a genius at what he’s doing and the nice part about it is the car did exactly what we wanted it to do, getting us into the number one spot.”

Robert Hight topped the Funny Car field, and Karen Stoffer led the Pro Stock Motorcycle lineup.

Hight had a 3.883 at 325.92 in his Chevrolet Camaro SS in the final qualifying round Saturday. Stoffer ran a 6.793 at 197.91 on a Suzuki.