Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com, through the assistance of a key group of Pro Modified historians and enthusiasts, has compiled a list of Top 20 all-time drivers based on their contribution to the class, historic achievements, statistics and fan appeal.

Starting on Friday, January 8, 2010, the electronic magazine will reveal the list, announcing two drivers per week, until the No. 1 driver is unveiled on Saturday, Mar. 13, during the ADRL Dragpalooza in Houston, Texas.

Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com narrowed the list from hundreds of drivers down to 20. Today, we reveal No. 18 on the list.

Saltillo, MS

NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
•    Two-time ADRL Pro Extreme Champion
•    First ADRL car into the 3.60s, 3.70s
•    First ADRL car over 200


Jason Scruggs will be the first to say that when he began fast doorslammer racing in the deep south in the late 1980s, he had no idea that his efforts would take him anywhere of significant importance. While the legends of fast doorslammer racing, Ed Hoover, Scotty Cannon and Charles Carpenter were showcasing their wares in the Carolinas and on the IHRA tour, the Saltillo, MS., bracket racer was thundering around the smaller, obscure tracks in Alabama and Mississippi.

Who would have ever believed that the humble man from Mississippi would represent the bridge connecting the old school of Pro Modified to a different style of Pro Modified racing; national event style competition on an eighth-mile strip?

“We just liked to go fast with a doorslammer,” said Scruggs, who pointed out he was humbled by the Top 20 appointment. “We just ran Top Sportsman type cars with small blocks. We were small block racers all the way. One day we decided we wanted to race heads up. We never dreamed that we’d ever run as quick as we did with that small block.”

That’s when Scruggs befriended the racer who he credits for pushing him to be the racer he is today – Scotty Cannon. The six-time Pro Modified champion had ventured over into Scruggs’ territory and the same domination he exerted on the national scene was the same kind of intensity he brought to those Quick Eights.

And when we talk about those tracks that Scruggs honed his skills on, it wasn’t the major super strips on the sanctioned tours. They were the facilities that barely had enough parking space for 100 cars and a track so narrow that you couldn’t open up the door when backing up from the burnout.

“He made me work harder than I ever had,” Scruggs said. “I raced against him enough to know he was the racer who set the standard. We were always a few hundredths behind him all the time. I started pushing my stuff to the next level and by the time I got to where I could almost run alongside of him, he went nitro racing.”

Effectively Scruggs picked up where Cannon left off, and while he’s not one to spout his accomplishments, he did admit a period of time where in one season, he only lost one round of competition.

Long before the ADRL existed, Scruggs was a three-second runner on the marginal tracks. Now that the ADRL exists, he’s their long ball hitter, by effectively becoming the first Pro Extreme racer to exceed 200 miles per hour and in the last couple of seasons has been the first into the 3.60s and 3.70s.

Scruggs is also a two-time ADRL Pro Extreme champion and amidst his successes, he retains probably the most important lesson Cannon ever indirectly taught him.

“You know, I always aspired to beat Scotty but long before I started racing him, I always wanted to be the kind of racer he was,” Scruggs said. “I wanted to be the kind of racer you could walk up to any time and regardless of their success; they would take the time to talk to you. That to me is a successful racer. Besides, I got into this because I love to go fast, not to gain any great awards or anything. That’s just something extra that is great.”

For the complete list visit: ATTITUDE'S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM'S ALL-TIME TOP 20 HOMEPAGE

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