How Summit Racing Equipment Combined a Love for Drag-and-Drive with Business Smarts to Provide a Better Experience for Competitors and Enthusiasts Alike
The Summit Racing name brings decades of experience in the performance and racing landscape.
Stocking and shipping millions of parts each year from their multiple warehouses, Summit Racing Equipment used the experiences of one of their valued employees to get into the drag-and-drive community, and take it to the next level.
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“I’ve always been a fan of drag-and-drive since the first year of Hot Rod Drag Week,” said Tommy Dupree of Summit Racing Equipment. “I went a few times when it was close to my home base.” That love for cars and trucks that could handle street and strip duty took the next step when Tommy encouraged Summit to get involved.
“One of the years Hot Rod Drag Week visited Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, and we took one of our trucks,” said Tommy. “The interaction with the competitors and the fans was amazing, and we decided we want to be involved. I purchased a vehicle in 2017, and spent a few years getting it ready.”
Tommy competed on Hot Rod Drag Week in 2021, and the experience was eye opening to him. “The struggles we faced made us realize that we can better serve our customers, as well as help the competitors.”
Summit Racing Equipment jumped into a sponsor / vendor roles for the first time in 2022, and combining Tommy’s experience as a competitor with Summit Racing Equipment’s product offerings made for a great first impression.
“Although it’s been a great success for us as a company, it’s more about the positive experience we’re helping create for customers and the enthusiasts during the events,” Tommy said.
Summit Racing Equipment knew the drag-and-drive event required a different approach, thus they brought a RV converted to carry a decent number of parts along Sick Week and Sick Summer. They also dedicate a section of their customer service / phone lines to service competitors in a drag-and-drive.
“We have 8 million different part numbers, and we struggled with what to bring to be able to help out,” said Tommy. “But after the first year and-a-half of doing this, we’ve got a good idea what to bring. Safety items like helmets and SFI jackets are a big draw. We sold all fifteen helmets we brought to Sick Week this year.
“Our only downfall is not enough time and staff to be everywhere. However, the drag-and-drive community has shown us how much they appreciate us, and we’ve helped out a lot of people at events.
“Because of that we purchased a second coach to do parts and events from, so that will allow us a little more freedom to do more events. Next year we will be able to do both Sick Summer and Rocky Mountain Race Week Mega Week.
“Since we’ve started doing drag-and-drive events, we’ve had some of the companies we sell parts from jump into the drag-and-drive events as well. Examples include Driven Racing Oil, Holley and Edelbrock just to name a few.
“We enjoy being part of the drag-and-drive community, and as enthusiasts we look forward to being a part of as many as we can do in 2025.”
To find out more on Summit Racing, CLICK HERE!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine and Summit Racing.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com