West Coast Chop-Top  One  Slick Creation

Nothing gets Mike Salinas’s adrenaline pumping faster than seeing a green-light flash on a Christmas tree and feeling 540 cubic-inches of blown Chevrolet, sitting inches ahead of his toes, punch him into the seat while it lifts the wheels of his 7.0 Pro nostalgia dragster skyward. The thrill of that seven-second quarter-mile, 200-mph blast is hard to beat.

It’s also hard to beat his tow vehicle: a 1997 Peterbilt 379 extended hood that reflects both the colors and style of this Gilroy, California, National Hot Rod Association Hot Rod Heritage drag racer. Salinas’ hot-rod-style hauler, dubbed Slippery Pete, is an odds-on favorite to win every time it rolls into a racetrack or a truck show, as was proven at Overdrive’s Pride & Polish competition at Truck Show Latino in Pomona, California.

Jeff Davidson of John’s Truck Repair, in nearby Cotati, entered Salinas’ Pete in the Limited Mileage Show Truck class and walked away with Best Limited Mileage Bobtail and Best Pride & Polish Limited Mileage Paint among some stiff competition.

Richly deserved, too. The paint and bodywork on the chop-top Pete are works of art, thanks to the fabrication and attention to details the JTR crew put in.

“The project started out small,” says Davidson. “We were planning on chopping the cab top, building smooth deckplates, making custom rear fenders and tailplates, and painting the truck orange and black with blue flames to match Mike’s trailer [and dragster] we’d finished six months earlier.”

“But every time we got together with him to discuss the specifics, we all had ideas on how to alter this or that on the truck. When it was decided to yank the motor and transmission to dress them up a bit, the small project instantly turned into a huge one. Eighteen months and 4,000 man-hours later, this is the result.”

So the next time you are at a nostalgia drag race and see Salinas’ #7211, or one of his four daughters racing their Jr. Dragsters, sneak a closer look at the Peterbilt hooked to their car hauler/race shop. It’s as impressive as Salinas’ burnouts. — Bruce W. Smith

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