Salih built his reputation first as a crew chief. He guided Lee Wallard to victory in the 1951 Indianapolis 500, an early marker of his technical and organizational ability. Through the first half of the 1950s he continued working in the Indy car paddock, accumulating the mechanical knowledge that would eventually drive him to design his own chassis.
During 1956 and into early 1957, Salih developed an innovative design that allowed the traditional Offenhauser engine used throughout Indy car racing to be tilted on its side — lying down — within the chassis. The lay-down configuration produced a markedly lower center of gravity, which translated into higher cornering speeds around the banked oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Unable to interest any team owners in his unusual concept, Salih chose to finance the car's construction himself, placing his family in a precarious financial position. He enlisted builder Quin Epperly to fabricate the body and fuel tanks at a reduced rate; in exchange, Epperly was permitted to build and sell similar lay-down cars of modified design, which became known as Epperly lay-downs.
Salih persuaded veteran driver Sam Hanks — the 1953 AAA National Champion — to take the wheel. Hoping to sell the car before race day, Salih found no buyers and was forced to bear the full costs of ownership, bringing him near bankruptcy.
In the 1957 Indianapolis 500, Hanks moved steadily through the field after the start, assumed the lead within the first quarter of the race, and held it for most of the distance. The victory not only validated Salih's design but rescued him from financial ruin. Hanks immediately retired from open-wheel racing after winning, but Salih's prize money was sufficient to prepare the car for another attempt in 1958.
By 1958, the lay-down concept had been adopted by several other entrants. Jimmy Bryan drove Salih's car to a second consecutive victory, confirming the design's competitive advantage. Combined with his earlier win in 1951 as crew chief, this gave Salih three Indianapolis 500 victories across his career.
After a poor result at the 1959 race, Salih commissioned a new chassis for the 1960 Indianapolis 500. The revised car incorporated several modifications to the original lay-down design but achieved only modest results at the speedway, and Salih did not repeat his earlier success.
Salih's lay-down chassis stands as one of the more consequential technical innovations in Indianapolis 500 history. By demonstrating that tilting the Offenhauser engine could lower the car's center of gravity enough to produce measurable on-track gains, he shifted the thinking of Indy car constructors in the late 1950s and established the blueprint that Quin Epperly and others would build upon. His three victories as crew chief and constructor across 1951, 1957, and 1958 mark him as one of the notable figures in the sport's midcentury period.