In this paper, finite-time stabilization is considered for a class of nonlinear systems dominated by a lower-triangular model with a time-varying gain. Based on the finite-time Lyapunov stability theorem and dynamic gain control design approach, state feedback finite-time stabilization controllers are proposed with gains being tuned online by two dynamic equations. Different from many existing finite-time control designs for lower-triangular nonlinear systems, the celebrated backstepping method is not utilized here. It is observed that our design procedure is much simpler, and the resulting control gains are in general not as high as those provided by the backstepping method. A simulation example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design procedure. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.