Summit Racing Equipment Internationals

I often repeat that the unique atmosphere of the paddock is more important to me in drag racing than what happens on the strip. But now it’s time to be a bit more serious, as the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals is a major event on the European drag racing scene. It doesn’t get more serious than this, as it’s a round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship. It also counts as a round of the EDRS series, which means the variety of vehicles on the strip is especially wide.

The 2025 season of the European Drag Racing Championship consists of four rounds. It all began in May at Santa Pod Raceway in the UK. Tierp Arena was the host of the second round. Next, the whole circus will visit Hockenheim at the end of August, before finishing the year back at Santa Pod in September.

Although the Summit Internationals was the second round of the season, the scoreboards were empty beforehand, and everything was still on the table. Unfortunately, the previous event at Santa Pod was cut short by rain and wasn’t completed. Because the events are run in an elimination format, there is no way to award points if the whole event isn’t completed.

In the championship series supervised by the FIA, four categories are featured: Top Fuel Dragster, Top Methanol, Pro Modified, and Pro Stock.

Just two weeks earlier at Mantorp Park, the Top Fuel Dragster field was strong and competitive, but at this event, the turnout was noticeably underwhelming. Only Susanne Calin and Liam Jones took to the track, both representing RF Motorsport. They are true ambassadors of the sport, traveling across Europe to compete at both small local events and major international meetings. It was a shame that no one stepped up this time to challenge them and push the action to an even higher level. In the end, Susanne claimed victory in their duel.

The Top Methanol category was much livelier, bringing together two exciting classes: Top Methanol Dragsters and Funny Cars. At first glance, Top Methanol Dragsters may look similar to their Top Fuel cousins, but there is one major difference. Instead of burning nitromethane, they run on methanol, which reduces their power output to “only” around 3,500–4,000 horsepower, less than half that of a Top Fuel machine. Funny Cars, on the other hand, share the same methanol-fueled engines but take a different form: the engine is mounted in front of the driver and the car is covered with a lightweight fiberglass body shell, giving the appearance of a stretched version of a road car.

The Top Methanol competition had a particularly dramatic finale. Tina Høst Nedregård took the win in the deciding round, but immediately after crossing the finish line her parachutes failed to deploy properly. With no effective braking, the dragster shot into the shutdown area and into the gravel trap, suffering heavy damage. Thankfully, despite the violent crash, the driver walked away unhurt.

In the final run, Jere Rantaniemi clinched victory in Pro Modified, narrowly defeating Marck Harteveld. Rantaniemi, the reigning FIA European Pro Modified champion, secured the win with a time of 5.852 seconds, edging out Harteveld, who had set a new personal best earlier in the event.

Pro Stock cars are powered by naturally aspirated 8.2-liter V8 engines and covered with carbon fiber bodies that replicate production vehicles. What always amazes me is that these cars even have headlights and taillights from stock models. At the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena, Robin Norén emerged as the Pro Stock winner, defeating Jimmy Ålund in a closely contested final.

The four FIA-sanctioned classes are just part of the rich and diverse field of competitors. The contribution of drivers in other categories to the show cannot be overlooked. One such colorful class is Top Doorslammer. These cars are full-bodied sedans or coupes resembling production vehicles, powered by supercharged V8 engines running on methanol. The technical regulations are notably liberal, allowing a wide range of modifications and innovations. This flexibility has led to a field full of exciting and unique machines.

It’s no surprise that most drag racing cars are either based on American production vehicles or at least take inspiration from them. Among this crowd, however, a few striking exceptions caught my attention. Perhaps the most surprising was the Mercedes Gullwing driven by Swiss racer Stefan Winter. While the car has nothing in common mechanically with the original, it’s worth appreciating that the signature upward-opening doors were retained. Another car that seemed like a misfit in the drag racing world was a Volvo S60, which competed in the Competition Eliminator class.

Other less obvious cars included a BMW 8 Series, a Honda Prelude, and a Nissan 300ZX. But I won’t go any further in listing machines, as we already know that the true spirit of drag racing is in the paddock. Here, team members work hard right in front of curious visitors. Especially interesting is the scene in the queue of cars waiting for their turn to enter the arena.

The last thing drag racing cars are built for is sitting in traffic. It’s not just a matter of delicate throttle control - it’s also due to their extremely limited, or even completely absent, cooling systems. For this reason, these cars must be towed to the starting line. Some teams take the boring route, using quads or regular production vehicles, but others show remarkable creativity in building custom tow vehicles. Some are cute miniature dragsters themselves, while others are designed to look as if they could race on their own. It’s another element that contributes to the uniquely diverse character of the paddock.

Tierp Arena was a vivid and lively place during the Summit Racing Equipment Internationals 2025. With the loud action on the strip and the buzzing paddock, the event offered everything I love about this discipline. Good luck to all the drivers for the rest of the season, and see you next year!