PRO EXTREME

In hot, humid conditions that extended throughout the event, Scruggs struggled to gain a grip on the MDIR strip during Thursday's pre-race practice session, but once qualifying began on Friday the Saltillo, MS-based soy bean and cotton farmer found his stride.

"I blew the tires off right away in Q1, which is unusual for me, so I was a little concerned there, but we got it together for the second round. The track temperature was changing a lot; it was 120 degrees, 125, 140, back to 120, just going all over the place and I was always one side or the other from where I really need to be," Scruggs explained. "I kept teasing it, but I knew if I went up there enough times that eventually I'd get it."

Scruggs did eventually start from the number-one position in the 16-car Pro Extreme field after taking his screw-blown '69 Camaro for a 3.53-seconds ride at 217.32 mph. Just seven-thousandths of a second behind was Terry Leggett and his '71 Mustang, followed by Florida's Tommy D'Aprile with a career-best 3.55 in Mel Bush's 2015 Corvette.

Brooks got away first in the opening stanza and laid down a career-best 3.96, but it was no match for Scruggs, who set low ET and top speed for the round with a 3.60 at 214.11-mph pass. Next up was Buhumaid, who strapped a .033 holeshot on Scruggs then ran a game 3.63, but again with the best pass of the round at 3.56 and 215.68 mph, Scruggs advanced to the semis where he left first with an impressive .013 light and once more made the quickest and fastest pass at 3.54 and 216.24 mph.

Mustafa Buhumaid

That left only the final against Buhumaid's NAS Racing teammate Ahli, where again with the holeshot and again going quicker and faster, Scruggs capped off a dominating performance with a 3.53-seconds run at 216.55 to defeat Ahli's also solid 3.56 effort at 211.63 mph.

"Badir ran a really good race and those guys are doing a great job over there. The PDRA and as just a racer, too, I really appreciate what NAS Racing is doing for this sport," said Scruggs, who along with his father, Mitchell, and Pro Nitrous competitor Tommy Franklin is co-owner of the all-eighth-mile series. "I'm real happy with how this race turned out. NAS Racing has been great to work with and so has the Miller family here at the track. They've already said they're real happy with what went on here this weekend and said they'd love to have us back again next year."

With prior wins this year at Shreveport, LA, and St. Louis, Scruggs has won half of the six races completed this year in a 10-event schedule. The win in Maryland also vaulted him past Ahli into the season points lead.

"If I can win half of the rest of the races I'll be in good shape," he concluded with a laugh.