Jason Lee earned his first career victory in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented on Sunday, picking up the win over Jason Scruggs and moving into the points lead at Brainerd International Raceway as part of this weekend’s 41st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.
The event, which was powered by Stinar, was the seventh of 10 races during the 2023 season in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. It was also the first race in the category’s Road to the Championship.
Scruggs’ car broke before the run, handing the victory to Lee, who went 6.932 seconds at 117.17 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro in the championship round. Lee, who qualified 10th, knocked off J.R. Gray, Dmitry Samorukov and Stan Shelton to reach the finals for the first time in his career. With the victory, Lee also made a huge move into the points lead with three races remaining in the season.
“I feel like we should have won three times this year but had nothing but bad luck,” Lee said. “It’s just awesome to get this one. It’s really for the guys. They’ve worked really hard and without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do it this weekend. I’ll take lucky over good any of the week and now I’ve got to figure out how to make this thing go faster.”
Scruggs advanced to the final round for the second straight race with victories over Mason Wright, Justin Bond and defending world champion Kris Thorne. After the first race in the Road to the Championship, Lee’s lead is 28 points over Bond, and 29 points over Thorne.
The FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 30-Sept. 4 with the 69th annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
This story was originally published on August 21, 2023. 
