Joe Saldana

Saldana moved to Lincoln, Nebraska at an early age, where he began his auto racing career. His uncle, Orville Hoffman, and Buck Fallstead, modified stock cars, sparking Saldana’s interest in racing before he was old enough to drive. In 1961, he purchased his first car for $500 and debuted at Capital Beach Speedway in Lincoln.

By 1964, Saldana was winning features in cars he built himself, and by 1967, he was ready to compete at a higher level. He and Don Brown constructed the Mechanical Rabbit roadster-style sprint car, one of three built and raced by Brown, along with Greg Weld. Saldana set a one-lap record at Knoxville, Iowa, during qualifying for the Knoxville Nationals with a 21.45 second lap, but a wheel coming off with six laps remaining relegated him to a 7th-place finish.

In 1970, driving the Roger Beck house car, Saldana won races consistently and secured his first Knoxville Nationals victory, defeating Dick Sutcliffe, Ray Lee Goodwin, and Jan Opperman. He also won the Knoxville season point title that year. Later in 1970, Saldana ventured to California and won the Ascot Grand Prix driving Ernie Duncan’s 1969 California Racing Association (CAA) championship-winning Chevy.

The year 1971 saw Saldana pursue his dream of racing in the Indianapolis 500, moving east and taking on sprint car rides with several teams, including those of “Boston Louie” Seymour, Steve Stapp, Robert Ziegler and E.T. Morse. In 1972, he achieved his first USAC feature win, but it came in a USAC midget at Champaign, Illinois, rather than a sprint car.

In 1973, Saldana earned his first USAC Sprint Car Series win at the Tony Hulman Classic, held at the Terre Haute Action Track, leading for 40 laps and finishing ahead of Rollie Beale, Don Nordhorn, Bruce Walkup, and Sammy Sessions. The race was broadcast nationally on ABC’s Wide World of Sports.

For 1975, piloting the Mauri Amerling Chevy, Saldana secured back-to-back wins at the Indy Fairgrounds mile and Terre Haute, the latter being a dramatic race with nine lead changes. He then crashed out of a race at Eldora, ending his title contention for the year.

September 1976 brought Saldana the biggest win of his career in the Hoosier Hundred dirt champ car race. A crash involving several front-running cars caused a red flag, overshadowing a close battle between Saldana and A.J. Foyt. Saldana ultimately took the lead and won, followed by Foyt, Sheldon Kinser, Cassella, and Jim Hurtubise.

Saldana finally broke into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1977, qualifying at 184.596 mph, but was later bumped from the race. In 1978, he qualified for the Indianapolis 500 at 190.809 mph and finished 15th, collecting $20,690. He also achieved top-ten finishes at Michigan and Atlanta that year.

In 1979, Saldana again qualified for the Indy 500, running 16th on race day. He also secured several top-ten finishes in CART races, finishing sixteenth in the CART Championship standings. He also won a USAC midget event at the Eldora Speedway that year.

Although unable to qualify for the 1980 Indianapolis 500, Saldana continued to race on the dirt track, winning at Terre Haute and finishing ninth in the USAC Dirt Champ standings.

Saldana made one final attempt at the Indy 500 in 1982, but failed to qualify. He crashed heavily on Cleveland’s Burke Airport road course during a qualifying attempt, escaping injury. He continued to compete in sprint car and Silver Crown races, winning at Eldora in 1983 and at East Bay Nationals in Florida in 1984. In 1984, he also won the Silver Crown 100-lap race at Du Quoin, Illinois.

In 1985, Saldana’s 25th and final season, he achieved a second-place finish at Springfield, Illinois, and a fourth-place finish in the Silver Crown Championship. He retired after this season, stating, “I just decided that if I could be lucky enough to complete my twenty-fifth year, I’d be satisfied.”

Saldana is married to Susie, and they have three children: Laurie, Amy, and Joey Saldana, who also became a World of Outlaws sprint car driver. Joe and Susie continue to live in Brownsburg, Indiana, where he built a racing-oriented industrial development complex.

Saldana was inducted into the Nebraska Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1998, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Hall of Fame in 2016.