with a focus in atypical child studies and will graduate in the fall. A main
point of interest for her is the role of nutrition in the development of
children. For the second-to-youngest of the Salinas children, childhood
development is a study close to her heart.
“For most people, getting into college is a normal thing,” says Jianna. “But
I have always struggled in school. I’m dyslexic and have a phonological
hearing issue, and that means that the way I process information is differ-
ent. I didn’t think I could do it, I thought I’d be denied by every school I
applied to, but at that time I applied to study engineering at four schools
and got into two. I studied engineering for two years, and doing that was
my biggest achievement in life.
“Second was getting licensed for Pro Stock Motorcycle. Before my first
test session, I talked myself out of it about 20 times. It all came down to
the fear of me failing, of not being able to do it. You know, my dad runs Top
Fuel, and that’s a lot of pressure. I thought that if I failed, it was going to
look even worse because my dad races. I really had to hype myself up, but
after I did it, I honestly felt like I could do anything. It gave me so much
more confidence, and even though there are still things I struggle with, it all
comes down to the evil voice in your head. You have to constantly fight that.”
J
really wanted. That’s how racing came back into my life.”
For a month and a half, Jasmine journeyed solo, backpacking through
Taiwan, Singapore, and her mother’s home country of Indonesia. “I came
back home and still wasn’t sure what to do, but I started thinking about
everything I was excited about and interested in, and I just started saying
yes to those things,” she says. “I started saying yes to everything that scared
me, and since then, I’ve been doing that in every situation where I don’t
know what to do. I tell myself, ‘OK, let’s just figure it out.’ That’s how I got
back into racing, and that’s how I found my dream job, too. Now I feel
like one of the luckiest people in the world because I get to do what I love
during both the week and the weekend. I wake up excited every single day.”
During the week, Jasmine is an executive assistant at IDEO, a global
design firm that utilizes the dynamic backgrounds of creative individuals
to help businesses achieve change through human-centered design.
On the weekends, like Jianna, Jasmine is at the racetrack with the
Scrappers Racing team. When their father came back to racing Top Fuel in
2017 after a two-year respite – and then committed to a full-time schedule
in 2018 and beyond – Jasmine’s interest in racing was rekindled.
“I started hanging around, watching everybody work on the cars,” she
THE TREK TO NITRO
“There are classes that scare
me, but I’m also the kind of
person that if something scares
me, I want to go do it just to
overcome that fear.”
– Jasmine Salinas
ASMINE SEEMS LESS BUBBLY THA N JIA N NA UPON
first meeting, but through conversation, one quickly realizes that
she is no less enthusiastic regarding her goals – both on and off the
racetrack. The oldest of four sisters, Jasmine’s quiet posture may
seem shy or possibly even intimidating to some, but the University
of San Francisco graduate is simply mindful of how she channels her energy.
When the girls were young, Michael and Monica were dedicated to the
family business, and many evenings, their mother was in school while
their father was in the race shop. Jasmine, a natural at manning the ship,
accepted the responsibility of helping out with her younger sisters and
around the house.
“I think that when you have a lot of responsibility at a young age in terms
of making sure everybody around you has what they need, it changes how
you interact with people,” she explains. “I’m observant of everything, and
I think that’s something that my parents instilled in me.
“So yes, I’m reserved, and I’m not really one to make small talk, but that’s
because I want deep and meaningful interactions with every single human
I come in contact with.”
Initially, her concentrated, observant nature drew her towards the Nos-
talgia racing in which her father had been so entrenched. As high school
graduation was coming into view, Jasmine was scoping out universities near
racetracks and making a plan, but her parents encouraged a different path.
“Luckily, they’re smart and told me to focus on school first and get a
degree,” says Jasmine, who buckled down and earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree in international studies with a minor in Asian studies and Mandarin.
Originally drawn to business, Jasmine shifted her focus when she noticed
the disconnect between a course in business studies and truly understanding
the customer. “If you really want to understand who you’re designing or
building for, you need to understand how they perceive the world through
their own, unique lens. You have to curate to that unique perspective,” she
says. “Through [the program], I was able to travel and gain a little more
empathy and understanding as to why people are the way there are and
think the way they think. I loved it and feel like it was a lot more beneficial
than the traditional route.”
After college, Jasmine was further struck by the realization that a tradi-
tional life didn’t resonate with what was in her heart. “The year I turned
25, I was going through the rat-race of life, and I realized I wasn’t happy,”
she admits. “I didn’t want to be in a job where everyone around me was
just waking up for a paycheck. So, I made the hard decision to leave a
well-paying, secure life, and I took some time off to think about what I
D r a g Il l u s t r a t e d . c o m
begins. “I started asking our crew guys questions, and they started teaching
me how to work on the car. In 2018, I spent the year building superchargers
for my dad’s car and traveling with the crew. I didn’t do it to get paid; I did
it because I loved it. That’s when I really fell in love with the sport. One
day, my dad came up to me after watching me work on the car and asked
me to sit in Ashley Sanford’s Top Alcohol car to see what I thought. So I
did, and Ashley told me everything about it. It was amazing. It just blew
my mind, and then my dad asked me if I wanted to race.”
Jasmine’s answer came easy, and the wheels were set in motion. She
licensed in Top Alcohol Dragster in the spring of 2018 with the help of
Krista Baldwin through Nitro University. Leading up to the licensing
process, though, Jasmine was intently preparing.
“It took about a year to get everything in place and find the right peo-
ple to work with,” she says. “So for a year straight, one hour every day, I
literally went through the procedures and practiced them. By the time I
actually sat in the car to make my first launch, it felt right. I thought I’d be
a little more nervous, but I was incredibly calm and comfortable. Krista
is absolutely incredible, and everything I’ve learned I credit to her. I feel
confident getting into the sport, and a lot of that is because of her help.
“When I made my first launch, it was probably the most exciting thing
in the world,” Jasmine continues. “I don’t show a lot of expression, and
it takes a lot to impress me, but I definitely got out of the car with a big
smile on my face. When you jump into something like that where you
75
Dr ag Illustr ated