Pro Mod standout Jason Scruggs picked up his first career victory in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series on Sunday, driving past former world champion Jose Gonzalez in the final round at Summit Motorsports Park as part of this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.
The event, which was powered by Mike Janis Superchargers, was the sixth of 10 races during the 2023 season in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. It was also the final race in the regular season for the category before the Road to the Championship takes place over the final four events of the year.
The weekend, and especially Sunday, belonged to Scruggs, as he picked up the first-time victory with a run of 5.760-seconds at 250.32 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro against Gonzalez, who ran 5.807 at 248.93 in the championship round. It was a memorable moment for Scruggs, a veteran who has enjoyed tremendous Pro Mod success over the years. He advanced to his first final round in NHRA action in 2020 and came through on Sunday to earn his first Wally.
“We’ve won world championships all over the place and we’ve been doing this a long time, we just had not won anything in the NHRA,” Scruggs said. “We had gotten so close it was heartbreaking. But this is awesome and I’m just so happy right now. All these guys that help me, I just appreciate all of them. I’ve got good parts, so it makes me look good when we can race good stuff. This is awesome and a dream come true for us.”
Scruggs advanced to the final round with victories over Billy Banaka, Sidnei Frigo and Mike Castellana. Gonzalez earned his 13th career final round berth – and second this season – with round wins against Dwayne Wolfe and Jason Lee.
Justin Bond, who has three wins this season, will take the points lead into the Road to the Championship.
The FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series returns to action Aug. 17-20 as part of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnestoa.
This story was originally published on June 26, 2023. 
