Print this page

IHRA and Summit Racing Equipment will ELECTRIFY the Summit SuperSeries in 2021

Monday, 03 May 2021

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla - The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) and Summit Racing Equipment have agreed to expand the Summit SuperSeries by adding electric vehicles (EV) to North America’s premier sportsman bracket racing program this year.

Through Summit Racing’s support of the EV program, each IHRA member track will have the opportunity to crown one EV Summit SuperSeries track champion and send that competitor to the Summit World Finals in October to compete for the IHRA World Championship.

“We are very excited to offer our IHRA member track family another opportunity to bring new business to our facilities,” said IHRA Vice President Skooter Peaco. “The IHRA rulebook has contained EV rules for several years now, but with Summit’s support we can formally build a platform for these vehicles to compete for a championship this season.”

IHRA officials have had communication with officials from the National Electric Drag Racing Association and will be consulting with them on safety issues and other EV specific items as this EV category grows within the IHRA Summit SuperSeries.

Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports and Events Manager Jim Greenleaf sees this as a natural progression for the program that is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary season.

“The greatest thing about the Summit SuperSeries is that we have been able to expand and grow the program in both size and class structure throughout the 20 years we have been partnering with IHRA,” said Greenleaf. “What once was a program that provided unprecedented opportunity for 16 sportsman bracket racers when this originally started has expanded into a true head-to-head, best of the best championship for nearly 250 local racers representing every IHRA member track. Class expansion has come in 2012 with the addition of the Junior class and again in 2019 to include the Sportsman class and again this year as we welcome EV competitors into the program.”

All IHRA member track’s Summit SuperSeries EV champion’s will receive an invitation to the Summit World Finals where they will compete within the Sportsman category this season. EV competitors will run each other as much as possible during each round of Sportsman eliminations. If 32 or more EV competitors show up to compete at the Summit World Finals, they will run as their own independent class.

"We’re ready to support the EV market by leading the way in selection, service, and technical resources. No matter what the powerplant, we will continue to help racers push the limits of power and performance through a huge selection of quality parts from respected brands" said Greenleaf.

“We know this will be a slow build up for this category, but there is no denying that the manufacturers are all increasing their footprint in the EV market, and we want IHRA member tracks to be the first to put the welcome mat out for these competitors this year,” said Peaco.

The Summit SuperSeries program rules have been updated and are posted here. To register for the Summit SuperSeries you must join the points program at your local IHRA facility then complete the IHRA membership form found here.

Questions on how to become a member of the IHRA can be answered by calling (561) 337-3446 or email membership@ihra.com.

Last modified on Monday, 03 May 2021