After a few weeks early in the season sorting out the new car, which was one of three built and raced by Brown, Saldana and Greg Weld, Joe and his Rabbit went on a tear.

He proceeded to run away with the National Championship race defeating Dick Sutcliffe, Ray Lee Goodwin, and Jan Opperman.

The Tony Hulman Classic was the only dirt track event to be nationally televised at the time, and "Little Joe" showed ABC's Wide World of Sports viewers (and even color commentator and former World Champion, Jackie Stewart) just what a sprinter can do in the hands of a master driver, as Saldana never set a wheel wrong the entire 40 laps at the Terre Haute Action Track, easily defeating Rollie Beale, Don Nordhorn, Bruce Walkup and Sammy Sessions.

Saldana was able to land a ride in one of Don Siebert's sprinters, and even score his first pavement win in the car at St. Paul, Minn., but faded to seventh in the final USAC points.

Joe ran solidly in the top ten until the 51st lap, when a crash involving several front running cars, caused a red flag.

Joe fought back however, and when Foyt bobbled and caught the first turn fence four laps later, Saldana took his Ron Killman-Lloyd Weaver dirt champ car to the lead for good.

On the strength of his Hoosier run, Joe was fifth in the 1976 USAC Dirt Champ standings, right behind Cassella, Parsons, Kinser, and Larry Rice.

Driving the Ralph Wilke Leader Cards Eagle-Offy wrenched by A.J.Watson, Joe breezed through his rookie test and qualified at 184.596 mph, only to be bumped from that race.

Finally in 1978, the dream became reality, with Joe qualifying Gus & Dick Hoffman's Mr. WizeBuys Carpet Eagle-Offy solidly in the field at 190.809 mph.

The bubble burst, in 1980, as Saldana and the Hoffman team could not muster the speed for a third straight Indy 500 appearance, and they missed the big show.

Although the Indy car deal was a disappointment, it was good news for dirt track fans, as it meant a stepped up program in that department for "Little Joe".

Joe ran all the 1980 USAC Dirt Champ shows wheeling the Johnson Sheet Metal Chevy, he finished ninth for the season.

Joe did make all the USAC dirt champ races in the Johnson Sheet Metal Special with a 5th place at Springfield, Illinois as his best effort.

After Tom Bigelow stepped out of Dick Hammond's Genesee Beer Wagon, Joe tried to get the car up to speed, but missed the show once more.

Driving the Snell Bros. Tipp Machine & Tool car on the Silver Crown (Dirt Champ) Trail in 1982, Joe had a fine year.

Saldana also won the Silver Crown 100-lap race at Du Quion, Illinois, on Labor Day driving Mauri Amerling's car after Ron Shuman blew his tire on the last lap.

A sixth-place finish at Indianapolis Raceway Park prior to a promising night at the Oklahoma City State Fairgrounds while leading the first 24 laps ended with engine woes.

At Springfield, Joe set a new one-lap track record of 31 .144 and then finished 2nd when he was barely beaten to the flag in the 100 lapper by Chuck Gurney.

He says in retrospect, "I've been extremely fortunate during the past twenty-five years and the fact that there was no family pressure to make the decision, made it much easier."

I've been pretty lucky during my career and look back to highlights like the 1970 Knoxville Nationals, the 1973 Tony Hulman Classic and the 1976 Hoosier Hundred with a sense of accomplishment."

Joe and Susie continue to live in Brownsburg, Indiana, where he has successfully built a racing oriented industrial development complex.