Salemi & Team Victorious at The Shakedown at The Summit
The Shakedown at the Summit has been one of Melanie Salemi’s favorite races ever since she made her first ¼ mile 
pro mod blast down Summit Motorsports Park’s surface in 2015. Although she had made many ¼ mile runs in her dragster over the years, being in her pro mod was a new learning experience. Going 5.88 at 239 on her first full lap was something she had only dreamed of.
Fast forward to 2016 when Melanie saw herself in the final of the first $40k Shakedown at the Summit. Her and her team were quite confident they had what it was going to take, to take the win as Melanie had made consistent 5.80 passes throughout eliminations. That was quickly halted as Kevin Fiscus motored on down the track for the win in the final as Melanie struggled to get off the starting line. Ever since that day Melanie and her team has been determined to go back to the shakedown to redeem themselves.
2017 Melanie qualified #1 with a 5.71 @ 250 and saw herself out in the semi final after a red light start.
In drag racing we always say there are so many ways to loose, and only one way to win. With a little luck on Salemi’s side this weekend her team was able to conquer their goal of finally winning the Shakedown at the Summit.
The final round saw Salemi and David Norris line up. Both driving G-Force Race Cars and sharing tuners it was sure to be an exciting final. Burnouts were complete and both drivers were pulling towards the tree. Due to the fact that both cars were being tuned by Melanie’s Husband Jon & brother in-law Jim, it was a shock to Melanie when she heard Jon’s voice on the radio telling her she was going to take a single as Norris’ car was leaking fluid. After a small in car celebration, Melanie zoomed down the track to a 5.72 @ 251mph to take the win.
“It was a total team effort this weekend”. Stated Salemi. “I certainly have some of the best of the best standing behind me, and it goes way further than just our performance on track, the amount of passion we all put into our program really is second to none. From the guys at the shop, Mike Stawicki who works countless hours to always give me the best engine program, our sponsors who help make this all possible, to our family, friends and fans who are always cheering us on. Sometimes I get the praise for doing my job driving and sometimes Jon & Jim get to take all of the credit for the cars performance. This weekend, it was a total team effort. You lose as a team and you certainly win as a team. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”
A sincere thank you, to all of our marketing partners who help make this possible!
AL-LEE Installations, Big Sky Motorsports, Quick Drive, Strange Engineering, New Era Cap Company, Liberty’s Gears, G-Force Race Cars, MSR Performance, Resolution Racing Services, RS Performance, FuelTech, LAT Racing Oil, Atomizer Racing Injectors, Ross Racing Pistons, Motorsports Unlimited, TT Motorsports, Flatout Gaskets, NGK Sparkplugs, MVM by Galot, Kinetic Engineering, R&R Racing Products, VP Racing Fuels, Central Fire Protection & Hoosier Racing Tires.
