Choosing the right lane for the final, Scruggs left first with a stellar .004 reaction time to Leggett's still respectable .040 light, but the holeshot spelled the difference 660 feet later as Scruggs' 3.57 at 216.34 managed to beat a quicker 3.54 run at 215.07 mph put together by Leggett and crew chief Terry Coyle.

"Man, we had the car this weekend and I was bad when it really counted. We've never won one of these things before and I just feel real bad for my team; I let them down," a dejected Leggett said immediately after the run.

Scruggs said he knew he "killed it" on the start but lost some ET when he had to wrestle the car away from the centerline down track.

"We should've run a .54, too," he claimed. "I could see Terry the whole way down the track; I thought we had nicked him off the start, but I wasn't really sure until we crossed the finish line and I saw my win light come on. I'm just glad we did nail the tree so hard because it turned out we needed it. Terry had the car to beat all weekend."

Scruggs also recognized his semifinal win over Ahli was significant since it put them essentially even in points. Then, the win over Leggett--his fourth this year--moved the past back-to-back champion into sole possession of the points lead. "This is what we have to do," he stressed. "There's three races left (this season) and we have to go out there and make the most of them."

Finally, Scruggs dedicated his latest win to the memory of noted PDRA track and TV announcer Brian Olson, who passed away recently from complications related to a motorcycle accident. "Brian was such a big part of the PDRA and everyone here loved him and we're always going to miss him," said Scruggs, who with his father, Mitchell, and Pro Nitrous racer Tommy Franklin is a PDRA series owner.