Meet the C2 Corvette That Spawned Summit Racing
Meet the C2 Corvette That Spawned Summit Racing
Desire to go drag racing leads to the creation of one of the world’s largest performance parts suppliers.
By now, everyone who has ever had a need for automotive parts knows who Summit Racing Equipment is. The mega parts supplier has grown into a major success story today. But like most every other business on the planet, things started out rather humbly. In this case, the origin of the company can be traced back to its founder, a young engineer named Paul D. Sergi. Who, coincidentally, was just looking to soup up his L71 C2 Corvette so he could drag race it on the weekends.
The young lad began by seeking out wholesalers so he could source his parts cheaply for both himself and his buddies. Before you know it, that led to a part-time business Sergi ran out of his Ohio-based garage. But the business grew quickly, to the point where he had to relocate to the basement of a local donut shop. And then, a 1,500 square foot store front. And finally, a much larger facility in Akron, Ohio.
Today, Summit Racing is celebrating its 50th anniversary. But it couldn’t have been possible without that C2 Corvette. So Summit employees and Corvette aficionados Bill McGhee and Wayne Krinjeck pulled the ‘Vette out of storage, where it has sat for decades. They performed a full restoration on the car, which required a load of fiberglass work following some shoddy old bodywork.
There’s just one kicker, of course. While the C2 Corvette looks stock, the crew punched out the stock big block to 496 cubic inches. With a host of goodies sourced from (where else?) Summit’s catalog, the ‘Vette now pumps out 592 horsepower. And hopefully this time around, it’ll stay out of storage and in front of Summit’s customers where it belongs!
