Jason Scruggs (far lane) got the final round win over Tommy D’Aprile.

Words by Jeff Burk
Photos by Chris Haverly

Jason Scruggs, who had two ADRL championships and six event wins going into Saturday’s Eliminations of the inaugural American Drag Racing League event at historic Bristol Dragway, added to his accomplishments by winning the Pro Extreme title at this event. 

With the sound of the ‘63 Corvette’s massive supercharged engine echoing through Thunder Valley, Scruggs won for the seventh time in PX defeating Florida racer and first time ADRL finalist, Tommy D’Aprile, with a 3.675/205.72 final round effort that covered D’Aprile’s 3.692/203.36. Scruggs left first by .002 and never gave back any ground on his way to the win.

“With this competition and Bristol being the monumental place that it is, it makes this win that much more special,” Scruggs said. “Every guy we raced was tough; I’m just glad it was our day.”

Second-year ADRL driver Rickie Jones (son of RJ Race Cars owner Rick Jones) was the winner in Pro Nitrous beating a stellar field of seasoned pros. His RJ Race Cars 2012 Camaro delivered consistent low 3.80 ET’s in the three rounds of eliminations to stay unbeaten so far this year driving his Summit Racing Equipment-backed 2012 Camaro. His quickest ET was 3.812 and Jones went 3.823 at 194.27 mph to beat Bob Rahaim in the finals for the second straight race.

“We knew what we could run and we were just consistent with that,” Jones said. “With the way we were operating, anything in the low 3.80s was a pretty good run. We would rather just go down the track and be consistent

Like Jones, Alan Pittman stayed perfect for the season with his second Extreme 10.5 victory in a row, and he kept it entertaining at this event. He ran a 3.858 at 197.45 mph to beat Brad Brand, but the real fireworks came in the semifinals against Grant McCrary. McCrary and Pittman nearly crashed when McCrary actually crossed the center line before getting loose and crashing into the left wall. Crossing the center line disqualified McCrary’s winning run, sending Pittman to the finals. Pittman credited his crew for his success.

“It’s the car owner and the crew, and I couldn’t have done this without them,” Pittman said. “We had a lot of firsts today: Our fastest and quickest times, our best 60-foot times, our first win at Bristol and I won two (national events) in a row for the first time.”