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Jason Scruggs’ motto has at all times been easy – race ok to allow them to know he was there. When the bell rang on the finish of the Summit Racing Tools NHRA Nationals, “them” knew the farmer from Saltillo, Mississippi, had been there.
Scruggs is savoring the victory, regardless of not being his first in drag racing. It’s, nonetheless, his first on the large stage of the NHRA Professional Modified collection. He stopped Jose Gonzalez for the monumental victory.
Scruggs isn’t a trailblazer within the sense that he’s not at each race when the NHRA schedule rolls into city. He does make it some extent to benefit from his alternatives.
“When you add every part I’ve accomplished since I began NHRA racing, I most likely hadn’t raced for a 12 months as a result of I’ve run about three races a 12 months,” Scruggs defined. “Final 12 months, I ran two races. This 12 months, that was my first race of the 12 months. I hadn’t raced for 2 or 3 times a 12 months on a mean since 2019, my first 12 months.”
Scruggs admired the NHRA scene and revered its opponents to the utmost, however for him racing the blue-collar, backwoods Fast Eight occasions was at all times his calling card.
“I used to be at all times an outlaw racer, and I at all times loved eighth-mile stuff, and I by no means actually considered working NHRA a complete lot,” Scruggs defined. “Then Professional Excessive glided by the wayside.”
Professional Excessive, as soon as thought of a real “run whatcha brung, and hope ya brung sufficient” doorslammer division the place guidelines have been at a minimal, at one time was drawing upward of 30 vehicles first within the ADRL and later PDRA. When that platform started to fade, Scrugg started contemplating the NHRA platform.
“I simply thought that’d be a very good problem, one thing enjoyable to do, one thing I’d by no means accomplished,” Scruggs admitted. “After which as soon as we began it, my dream’s been to get a Wally. To get a Wally till I stop doing it, for positive.”
Scruggs almost pulled off the milestone victory three years in the past when he misplaced a rain-delayed Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals ultimate in Indianapolis, certainly one of three races at Indianapolis Raceway Park throughout the pandemic-abbreviated season.
“I virtually obtained it,” Scruggs mentioned. “I used to be forward at 1,000 toes, after which Chad got here round me. I’ll at all times imagine God had a plan as a result of a 12 months earlier, Chad had damaged his again. It was his time, and I used to be positive ready for mine. I used to be happy with him.”
NHRA accomplished the occasion throughout the U.S. Nationals, essentially the most prestigious drag race on this planet. However there was a time when essentially the most prestigious race for him was in his so-called yard at smaller venues comparable to Atmore Dragway and Phenix Metropolis Dragstrip. That’s the place Scruggs watched his doorslammer heroes do battle virtually each weekend. rld championships all over, and we’ve been doing this a very long time; we simply had not gained something within the NHRA,” Scruggs mentioned. “We had gotten so shut it was heartbreaking. However that is superior, and I’m simply so joyful proper now. All these guys that assist me, I simply admire all of them. I’ve obtained good elements, so it makes me look good after we can race great things. This win is superior, and a dream come true for us.”
Nevertheless it was one racer who transitioned between a mullet hairdo and a mohawk who obtained his consideration.
“Quite a lot of these races that we did in these locations, individuals might not know, about over time have been fairly huge too,” Scruggs mentioned. “Scotty Cannon was at all times certainly one of my heroes, and we at all times did some match racing there proper earlier than he went gasoline humorous racing. We’ve at all times had lots of good instances. It’s arduous to ever duplicate these days.”
Scruggs may not have been a pioneer in these early days of mainstream Professional Modified, however he was a pioneer in the truth that he helped make outlaw doorslammer racing extra mainstream and have become an icon throughout the transitional years.
“I didn’t actually begin until the mid-90s, however I used to be a fan via all of the, when Scotty Cannon was working nitrous the very first time, and Jeff Littleton and all them have been on the market, and the Tremendous Chevy Exhibits have been actual huge again within the day, 1990,” Scruggs mentioned. “I used to be a fan throughout all that point, however I didn’t actually begin Professional Mod racing the mid-90s.”
One among Scruggs’s most vital classes is the worth of being a individuals’s champion. Watching Cannon’s interactions with the followers and the lesser groups solely confirmed the thought course of ingrained in his thoughts already.
“Scotty was the identical individual no matter what observe he was at,” Scruggs mentioned. “It didn’t matter that he’d gained six world championships. He was simply the identical individual. I at all times admired that. He didn’t know me from anyone, and he had gained just a few championships, and I used to be at a little bit bracket racer as soon as, and he provided to weld on my automobile for me as a result of he was the one one there with a welder. Despite the fact that he had all types of success and was the principle man for a very long time, he by no means let it go to his head.”
Scruggs hasn’t let success go to his head, both.
“We’ve gained wo
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