Salinas Confirms Rob Flynn

[Bobby Bennett]

MIKE SALINAS WILL HAVE ROB FLYNN AS HIS TOP FUEL CREW CHIEF IN 2022 | Competition Plus

Veteran team owner and Top Fuel driver/team owner Mike Salinas confirmed to CompetitionPlus.com he will have a new crew chief for his Top Fuel dragster for the 2022 NHRA Camping World Series season. “Okay, we have Rob Flynn. Rob Flynn came in, we picked him to take over where Alan (Johnson) left...

competitionplus.com

Pretty neat story about how it all set up.

 

[ol21stud]

The first year of the Count Downs. it was sprung on the teams in January where they didn't have as much time to think the whole thing through and most just raced hard all 24 races like they had every year before. Now they know they can even win the World Championship missing a race, much less also taking it easy on parts on a hot track weekend in the summer. They can just make sure they are in a good place at Indy and go for the last 6. Even more so with the "make all races and your in the Count Down" rule.

Rob Flynn was Hot Rod Fuller's crew chief that first year of the Count Down and they would have come in an easy first and World Champions IF the old point system had stayed in place that year. (Salinas is in good shape as Flynn working with AJ can only have made him better yet.)

But can you imagine where both Rob Flynn and Hot Rod would be in the world of NHRA drag racing had that the Count Down not happened that first year and both were crowned World Champion?

 

[mick]

- 2018, the year before salinas brought in AJ, he finished tied for 7th with doug. i think that was first year rob was on doug's dragster, moving over from 2nd kalitta dragster.
- 2019 doug finished 2nd and AJ tuned salinas to 7th in their first year together.
- throw out 2020. mike didn't race. doug did finish 2nd
- 2021 salinas up to 3rd place finish. doug fell to 10th
in 24 years of stats on DRC starting 1998, i believe the year doug started driving in TF:
- top 5, 15 of 24 years ...... top 3, 10 of 24 years ..... 2022 will be quarter century of top fuel racing

in 1998 rob was on last year of tenure with whit, finishing 5th behind force, capps, cruz, and etchells

 

[none]

I wonder if AJ ever thinks he is racing against himself???