Mike Salinas lights the candles Friday in Topeka

Racing next to points leader Brittany Force on the final run of the evening, it was Mike 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. 🔔 Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Nhra1951 🌐 Visit NHRA.TV to access more content: https://www.nhra.tv/ 📲 And Follow us on all our social networks: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NHRA Twitter: @NHRA: https://twitter.com/NHRA Instagram: @NHRA: http://instagram.com/nhra TikTok: @NHRA: https://www.tiktok.com/@nhra