IHRA: Summit Racing Equipment the definition of invested series partner

In any sort of sport, the best sponsors are the ones that put their money where their marketing is. They are active participants, invested in the action, and they tend to attract employees who are enthusiasts themselves, passionate about what they do.

In motorsports, that describes Summit Racing Equipment, a prominent partner with the IHRA on multiple levels, including the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour.

For 2016, racers competing in Good Vibrations Top Sportsman, Good Vibrations Top Dragster, Super Stock, Stock, Quick Rod, Super Rod and Hot Rod will compete for both Pro-Am and world championships within the series. These drivers make up the backbone of IHRA drag racing with their competitiveness and skill.

Racers attending Summit Pro-Am Tour events are eligible to win a championship within one of IHRA's six Pro-Am Divisions. The program is designed to allow drivers a chance to achieve championship status and earn prize money all while minimizing travel. Recently, Summit has increased the champions award and included third place in the points fund. Summit Pro-Am Champions in each class will receive $2,000; runners-up will earn $500 and third-place finishers earn $250 each.

That's real money.

Summit got its start in 1968 as a part-time business venture for a drag racer who was frustrated by the lack of speed shops in the Northeast Ohio area. Just a year later, demand had grown to the point where Summit opened its first retail store in Akron, Ohio.

Three years later, Summit tested the waters of a mail-order business by placing small ads for Mickey Thompson ET wheels in Hot Rod and Car Craft magazines. Orders began rolling in from all over the country, and by 1976, Summit Racing Equipment had printed its own catalog, and hired sales and customer service representatives.

In 1987, the company moved to a four-building facility in Akron, but by 1992, Summit has grown so quickly that the company constructed a new three-story headquarters in Tallmadge, Ohio. In 1997, Summit joined the digital age with the creation of SummitRacing.com. A year later, the company opened a new distribution center in Sparks, Nevada, to better serve the market west of the Rocky Mountains.

In 2002, Summit opens a 25,000-square-foot Retail Super Store in Tallmadge, followed by another 25,000-square-foot store in McDonough, Georgia, just outside Atlanta. With the completion of a Super Store in Sparks, customers in three locations have the opportunity to feel like a kid in a candy store – having hands-on access to everything from T-shirts to transmissions is intoxicating for any drag racer.

Summit continues to grow, not only in North America but in markets including Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Mexico and the Middle East – making Summit a perfect partner for the International Hot Rod Association, as the sanctioning body continues to explore opportunities outside the U.S. borders to confirm the "International" part of the IHRA's name.

For more information on Summit's participation in the IHRA, visit IHRA.com. And for more information on Summit Racing Equipment, log onto SummitRacing.com.