EngineLabs is always a sucker for a finely detailed engine, and the big Cat 6-cylinder in Top Fuel driver Mike Salinas’ hospitality rig certainly caught our eye while walking the pits for the NHRA Auto Club Finals. The nearly 900ci 3406C sits in a ’97 Peterbilt, but don’t think this oil burner is all orange paint and polish.

“It puts out 1,000 horsepower to the rear wheels,” boasts Salinas, who later qualified 12th in his Scrappers Racing dragster (below, foreground). “The heads have been ported, custom pistons, custom cam, big turbo and the injectors have been blueprinted and balanced. Top speed is 138 mph, but you have to be careful. The front tires will grow and hit the fenders.

The same attention to detail stretches behind the engine. Notice how the cab is chopped? Inside is a nice upholstery job with custom headliner that has multiple TV screens. And the massive fuel tanks are just for looks. The diesel fuel is really stored in a custom tank between the tractor’s frame rails. It took three different painters to squirt on all the orange, blue and black pigments, including the flames.

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“There’s 5,000 hours of work in this truck,” says Salinas, adding that he has other trucks in his business fleet that are even nicer. “Next, I’m building a totally seamless, boltless truck. It’ll be super clean. Even the spring hangers will be billet.”

The 56-foot trailer supports Salinas’ hospitality area in the pits, but he also uses the truck to haul his nostalgia dragsters to events like the March Meet in Bakersfield.