On May 19, Annette Summer and her 1957 Chevy Bel Air-bodied Pro Mod turned in a 4.15-seconds performance at 179.52 mph over the eighth mile at Carolina Dragway. Now, for most front-running Pro Mod pilots that might be a decent lap, but probably not cause for great celebration. For the lady they call “Pink,” though, it marked a momentous occasion.
Summer is recalling the odyssey that she and husband/crew chief Vern Summer embarked on in 2003 when they decided to make the switch to running turbocharged powerplants. Making the change even more challenging, just a year earlier the Aiken, SC-based duo had made the jump to full-time Pro Modified status after enjoying several seasons on top of the Pro Street scene.
Summer made her IHRA Pro Mod debut with her current ride, a ’57 Chevy Bel Air originally created by Tim McAmis, in July 2002 at Leicester, NY, after purchasing it earlier that year from current IHRA Pro Mod champion Mike Castellana. She started with nitrous-assisted horsepower between the frame rails, but after qualifying not even once that first year, a decision was reached in the off season to go with turbo power and a new Vanishing Point-built ’63 Corvette for the 2003 campaign.
“I was originally against it because I had worked with nitrous all my life, but as I got to running them (turbos) I started to like the challenge of making it happen,” says Vern Summer, who has been down the pioneering road before.
“I told all my friends it was like being pregnant for three years and finally giving birth,” she says. “Finally, it makes a run and we can be happy again and carry on. But it was three years of hell. I’m not kidding, it’s been rough because we didn’t have anyone to help us.”