Summit Racing Equipment Internationals 2026
Standing next to a dragster at the starting line is a unique experience – the noise, the smell and the eye-watering smoke give all the senses a generous amount of input. But at Tierp Arena, to experience one of the most unique and spectacular sensations, you need to take a seat in the grandstand or, even better, stand in one of the passages beneath it. This is where the vibrations caused by the cars launching are felt most strongly.
Summit Racing Equipment Internationals is a round of the FIA and FIM European Drag Racing Championship – it doesn't get much more serious than this on the European drag racing scene. Drivers also compete in the EDRS series, making the line-up both interesting and versatile. Maybe not as diverse as at the recent Meguiar's Drag Festival, but still offering a great opportunity to see just how colourful the world of drag racing can be.
Usually, my stories from drag racing events focus mostly on the atmosphere and the lively backstage action. During the events, I spend most of my time observing the mechanics at work: admiring their skills, their pace and their creativity when building unique push cars. This story won’t be much different, but with the stakes at this event being so high, it wouldn’t be right to forget about the line-up and the scoreboard.
Unfortunately, those waiting for the races in the fastest category of the sport, Top Fuel Dragsters, were not exactly spoiled by the line-up. Only two drivers were competing: Susanne Callin, the reigning European champion, was challenged by Colin Millar, who is experiencing his first season in a Top Fuel machine. Being new to nitro-powered dragsters, however, didn’t mean being unfamiliar with the world of drag racing. He had spent decades honing his skills while taking his little Ford Anglia to all sorts of events.
On Friday, when I visited the always-welcoming RF Motorsport team area, nothing hinted at the surprises that were about to unfold over the weekend – a weekend Susanne would probably like to erase from the history books. With all kinds of misfortunes and struggles with grip on a less-than-perfect track, none of the Slick Tricks Racing Dragster’s runs ended with a particularly satisfying result. One of them, however, took a terrifying turn and will be remembered for a long time. For anyone who may have doubted whether dragster drivers know how to use the steering wheel, this run certainly proved them wrong. Fortunately, despite its dramatic course, the dragster came away without so much as a single new scratch. But the overall result in the Top Fuel Dragster class? A surprising first career win for Colin Millar.
Competition in the Top Methanol class was also particularly tough for its reigning champion, Sandro Bellio, who lost his first elimination run to the far less experienced Isak Lagg. The final turned out to be a painful disappointment for one of the drivers, even before it started. Timo Habermann was set to take on Tony Bryntesson, but after the engine of his dragster suffered severe damage during the semifinal run, the class win was effectively handed to Timo after a bye run.
As a photographer, I have a soft spot for Pro Stock and Pro Modified cars – few other vehicles can produce such spectacular clouds of smoke during burnouts. In the Pro Modified final, both drivers put in exceptionally strong runs, recording remarkably similar times: Andres Arnover posted a 5.83-second run but lost to Jere Rantaniemi, who recorded a 5.80-second time. In the all-Swedish Pro Stock final, Robin Norén lost to Simon Ekengren – driving a Dodge Dart GT in one of my favourite liveries.
I hope none of the representatives of the non-FIA-sanctioned classes will hold it against me if I stop commenting on the results at this point and jump straight to the area where I feel most comfortable: the paddock. It turns out that photographing drag racing is a very healthy activity. During this event, I walked 17 kilometres, which is still shy of the 21 kilometres I covered with my camera during the recent Meguiar’s Drag Festival at Mantorp Park. Sitting in the grandstand is exciting, standing next to the starting line is thrilling, but seeing the human side of the sport in the paddock is what completes the drag racing spectator experience.
Regular readers of my page may think that I simply copy my paragraphs about the backstage vibe from my previous stories – a paragraph about the RF Motorsport guys appears in almost all of them. I can’t really do anything about it, as I’m impressed every time I see them in action. However, there is much more to see than just this one team. I only regret that many of the most professional teams park their trucks close and parallel to each other, effectively hiding their operations from the eyes of curious spectators. Fortunately, some teams kept their workshops open. The backstage work involved in preparing the Top Doorslammer cars could be observed in Jens Zimmermann’s pit area, while Hampus Staflund’s offered an unrestricted look at the construction of his Top Methanol Funny Car.
This year’s Summit Racing Equipment Internationals at Tierp Arena offered exactly what one could expect from it: the ground shaking to the rhythm of the exhausts from the fastest-accelerating vehicles in the world, a mix of drama and joy on the drag strip, and a paddock filled with the sound of tools at work. Although we’ll have to wait until next season for racing of this calibre to return to Sweden, the drivers and their teams have little time to rest. Two more rounds of the European Championship are just around the corner.