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“They were probably thinking, ‘Oh, here comes
another girl who’s going to drive a Pro Modified.’
Well, I’ve been doing it for three years now and I have
a pretty lengthy history in driving before that.”
our one friend’s house
to hang out for a bit.
But they have an out-
door TV on their patio,
so we make them watch
racing videos too,” she
chuckles. “So awesome.”
While Melanie’s
friends are more than
glad to watch a You-
Tube clip or even attend
a local race to support
her, it’s hard to have a
conversation with them
about the latest torque
converter or the in-
cremental, round-by-
round results of the
last race. Away from
the track, Melanie nev-
er really had a friend
who could relate to her
racing experience on a
deeper level.
That changed last
year, though, as she
struck up a friendship with longtime Top Drag-
ster pilot Kathy Fisher through a match race at
Lancaster Dragway. The two had never spoken
before the race, even though they’d regularly cross
paths on the PDRA tour. The weather didn’t co-
operate and neither one of the two laid down
stellar numbers, but they did form a bond that’s
continued to strengthen.
“I can actually have a conversation with her
about the feeling you get when you’re at the race-
track or when you’re driving down the racetrack,”
Melanie says. “She understands that, and I’ve
never experienced that with a friend before. That’s
something that’s become special to me, having
another girl friend who’s on the same page as I am,
with the same passion. That’s really neat for me.”
A
74 | D r a g
fter polishing off our
nachos, quesadillas and tacos,
we hop back into Jon’s truck to
head back to the Salemis’ house.
He takes the scenic route, pass-
ing local landmarks like the
Buffalo Zoo and famed archi-
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
tect Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House. Like a
proud tour guide, Jon explains the personal and
historical significances of each location, remi-
niscing about the days when his internationally
touring hardcore punk band, Snapcase, would
pack local establishments before rising to success
on the national level. A week after our visit, he
would reunite with his bandmates for a sold-out
reunion show at the Town Ballroom.
As our tour brings us by General Motors’
Tonawanda Engine facility, known for the
“Tonawanda 454”, I bring up the reason why Mel-
anie’s name has been popping up on seemingly
every drag racing news website over the winter:
She’s going NHRA Pro Mod racing. While she
tested the waters with an entry at the NHRA
Midwest Nationals in St. Louis last fall, the team
has decided to dive in headfirst this season. They
have a provisional entry into the season-opening
Gatornationals, March 16-18, which they plan
to use to earn grade points towards entering the
rest of the races.
Salemi’s NHRA Pro Mod debut gave her a nice
sampling of what’s in store both on track and in
the pits. She was one
of the 13 drivers who
didn’t make it into the
field at St. Louis, but
she was warmly ac-
cepted by the fans, who
completely depleted the
team’s hero card supply,
as well as NHRA an-
nouncer Brian Lohnes,
who invited Salemi into
the announcer’s booth
to provide color com-
mentary for the first
round of eliminations.
“That was a neat ex-
perience because I felt
like I was still part of it,”
Salemi says. “More peo-
ple got to listen to my
story and get to know
who I am. Brian knew
where I came from and
what I had done, but
a lot of people in the
stands probably didn’t.
They were probably thinking, ‘Oh, here comes
another girl who’s going to drive a Pro Modified.’
Well, I’ve been doing it for three years now and
I have a pretty lengthy history in driving before
that.”
Salemi didn’t notice any extra attention on
her brought about by the fact that she’s the first
woman to compete in NHRA Pro Mod since Leah
Pritchett drove a turbocharged entry in 2012.
“Sure, there is a new face there, so people are
drawn to that a little bit,” Melanie realizes. “Once
I go down the racetrack and people see that my
car is actually going to go down the racetrack
and I can drive the race car, I think the majority
of people just think that I’m a race car driver. It
doesn’t matter whether I’m a female or a male.”
While Melanie navigates the changes that
will affect her various responsibilities as a driver
and brand ambassador for her sponsors, Jon is
up for the challenges on his side of the team. For
one, the transition from the eighth-mile PDRA
to the quarter-mile NHRA forced him to make
a few changes to the car, namely swapping out
the 5-speed transmission and lockup converter
Issue 130