INAUGURAL WORLD DOORSLAMMER NATIONALS
JASON SCRUGGS LAUNCHES
‘MISSISSIPPI MISSILE’ TO NO. 2 SPOT
WHEN SCREW-BLOWN Pro Extreme cars were the kings of eighthmile
racing, Jason Scruggs was one of the undisputed leaders of the
class, both on track and as a behind-the-scenes proponent of the
now-defunct class.
Now going into his third season in NHRA-legal Pro Mod, Scruggs and
his father, Mitchell, are proving that their knowledge and equipment can
put them at the front on the quarter-mile scene with a roots-style supercharger.
The Mississippi farming magnate qualified No. 2 in the all-star
field with a 5.656 at 254.86 in his “Mississippi Missile” ’20 Camaro during
the final qualifying session.
“My dad [Mitchell] and everybody on the team, we’ve been through a
lot of struggles since we started doing this,” Scruggs said after his Saturday
night pass. “It feels good to get rewarded every now and then with those
good runs. But at the end of the day we’re still new and we still have a lot to
learn. Tonight was just one of those times where the air was really good and
we just went down the racetrack on a clean run. That’s half of the battle.”
Scruggs started to work on the other half of the battle – consistency
– on race day Sunday, when he dispatched 2018 NHRA Pro Mod world
champion Mike Janis with a 5.671 at 253.66 to Janis’ 5.758 pass. The twotime
Pro Extreme world champion fell to Michael Biehle in the second
round. – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
PESZ-JONES TEAM BURSTS ONTO
NHRA-LEGAL PRO MOD SCENE
JEFF AND JUSTIN JONES wanted to take the next step forward in their
Pro Mod careers in 2020. The World Doorslammer Nationals represented
the first rung in that ladder.
Jeff Jones made his NHRA-legal Pro Mod debut at Orlando with his
Imperial Construction ’19 Corvette, while his son, Justin, was making his
second appearance in roots-blown trim. The team’s lead tuner, Brandon
Pesz, was making his return to legal Pro Mod racing after racing off and
on in the class for over a decade.
The trio plans to run the NHRA Pro Mod Series schedule this season
after success with screw-blown entries in the Mid-West Pro Mod Series.
“This is just kind of that next step for us,” said Jeff Jones, whose Imperial
Construction firm also sponsored the race. “This is where we wanted to
be and what better way to kick it off than this race.”
It was the elder Jones who managed to make the 16-car field. His 5.724
at 248.66 pass, his first quarter-mile pull with the legal setup, ranked him
No. 13 in the field. Just under a tenth away, Justin qualified in the No.
23 spot with a 5.813 in his Imperial Construction ’18 Corvette. Pesz, still
shaking down his brand-new Larry Jeffers-built Extreme Racing Oils ’68
Camaro, ended up 30th.
For an early-season outing with a lot of brand-new parts and pieces, the
PJS Racing trio showed promising signs of performances to come. Plus,
with three freshly wrapped race cars and a pair of matching tractor-trailers
in the pits, the Weatherford, Texas-based group earned some serious style
points. – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI
78 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 156