Texas indie racer Brandon Snider was the top qualifier with a career-best 3.54 in his own '69 Camaro.

Scruggs improved his performance on every lap of eliminations. He opened with a 3.59/212.83 to trailer Todd “King Tut” Tutterow, winner at the PDRA race in Rockingham, NC. In the second round he used a 3.57/217.14 to defeat PDRA winner Mustafa Buhumaid. In the semifinals Scruggs staged up against Snider then overcame Snider holeshot to win with a stellar 3.54/218.37 mph.

"I was a little slow on the tree against Brandon, but he shook and our car went a .54, so that was lucky," Scruggs admitted.

That left only the final and NAS Racing driver Badir Ahli between Scruggs and his first PDRA trophy. Ahli, who started his '69 Camaro sixth after a 3.60 at 211.93 qualifying run, had beaten Don Wootton, Frankie Taylor and Wesley Jones in the preliminary rounds.

With lane choice for the final, Scruggs went against the grain and went with the right lane, despite having a little trouble seeing the starting tree from that side.

"I lost lane choice for the semis, but when we went a .54 in the right lane I decided to just stay there for the final against Badir. I was having a little trouble seeing the tree from the right lane, though, because of a bar near the window, so I was having to stick my head out to the right side of the cage just to see it. That's what made me late against Brandon," he explained.  

Badir left first with a .013 holeshot and Scruggs was still behind at the 330-foot mark, but at the 660-foot finish line he held a .031 advantage, which translated to a 3.53-second pass at 219.08 mph, or about half a car length for the win over Ahli's 3.57 at 208.94-mph effort.