The 2022 edition of the Summit Racing Midwest Drags is in the books. Participants and their machines were truly tested thanks to some crazy weather and long drives in between tracks. The stops for this year’s event consisted of a great mix of locations, including Walt’s Hot Rod Shop, Callies Performance, and Pro-Filer Performance Products. Racers were treated like royalty at each stop and at every track. The Summit Racing Midwest Drags is such a unique event that allows racers to take a vacation with their race car and have the opportunity to win some cool prizes along the way.

Thanks to the torrential amount of rain that fell on Monday afternoon at Edgewater Sports Park, it was a soggy start to this year’s event. Racing was delayed so the track could be dried off. The staff at Edgewater worked hard to give racers the best surface possible and they did a great job considering how much rain actually fell.

Garrett Mitchell, aka Cleetus McFarland brought the “Mullet” El Camino to the Midwest Drags this year. The El Camino is sporting a brand new big-block Chevy powerplant from Steve Morris Racing Engines. Cleetus and his co-pilot Kevin Smith worked on taming the twin-turbo rat motor for most of the first day and ran a best of 7.86 at 194 MPH.

The US 41 Motorplex in Indiana was the destination for day two of the Summit Racing Midwest Drags. The weather was a factor for the second day in a row, as this time there was a threat of strong storms. Many participants made their two runs as quickly as possible and started the long trek to Callies Performance Products in Fostoria, Ohio for the required stop of the day.

Drag-and-drive events are really all about the journey, whether it’s good or bad. Racers who have mechanical issues on the first day will load their broken ride up on the trailer and follow the event so they can still experience it. If you happen to live along the route for one of these week-long torture tests, chances are you’ll see some pretty cool cars in the host hotel parking lot, or at a local gas station.

Brandon Doller got the full drag-and-drive experience during the event. The Nova that Doller is driving was a shell in primer just a little over 30 days ago, so it took a significant amount of work to even make it to the event. When Doller arrived, he discovered the 5.3-liter LS that powers the Nova had a dead hole, but he still decided to send it and finished the first day of racing. Well, during a pass as US 41 the little LS engine had enough of the boosted shenanigans and let a whole bunch of smoke out at the top end. Did Doller throw in the towel? Absolutely not…he limped the Nova over to Mid America Kustoms so a fresh LS could be swapped in.

The Summit Midwest Drags barreled into day three at Dragway 42 in West Salem, Ohio at wide-open throttle and ready to go. Racers who remained in contention for their class were laser-focused on turning in the two best time-slips possible. There were a ton of spectators on hand soaking in all the drag-and-drive goodness the Summit Midwest Drags had to offer.

Day four of the Summit Midwest Drags was the most carnage-filled of all. Rick Russel in his fan-favorite 1979 Lil’ Red Express Dodge Truck made contact with the wall after getting water under his rear tires. Cory Bohl, who was leading the Gasser-B class in his 1967 Nova demolished a rearend during his first pass. Thankfully, Bohl was able to get the Nova repaired and make two passes before racing ended for the day. H-Pattern class leader Tyler Garlock had a really bad day at Dragway 42 in his 1998 Mustang — Garlock had a suspension part fail on an early pass and got it repaired so he could keep making runs. Well, on his next pass Garlock experienced some type of driveline failure that ended his week.

Cole Rymarz is just 16 years old and was having a blast at the Summit Midwest Drags. The young gun was wheeling his 2001 Grand Marquis and laying down passes in the 15.90 range. Rymarz became the youngest person ever to finish the Summit Midwest Drags and that’s pretty cool.

The 2022 edition of the Summit Racing Midwest Drags finished up at Edgewater Motorsports Park with another day of exciting racing. A last-second audible had to be called about the start time by the event organizers and track officials to beat some bad weather that was inbound. The racers were unfazed by the change and put on one heck of a show for the fans that came out to watch the final day of competition.

Cleetus and Kevin Smith had an eventful week, to say the least as they fought through a host of issues. The El Camino’s new big block combination showed tons of potential early, but it required some coaxing to really bring it all out. Mitchell and Smith’s hard work paid off when the boards at Dragway 42 lit up with a 6.99-second elapsed time. That run made Cleetus the first person to make a 6-second pass during the Summit Racing Midwest Drags. He went on to win the Unlimited class with a 7.30-second average.

Ryan Hargett’s performance in the Super Street Small Block Power Adder class was impressive. Hargett absolutely torched the field with a string of passes in the 7.50s that any bracket racer would be proud of. The 7.57 weekly average that Hargett’s twin-turbo Mustang recorded was nearly two full tenths quicker than second-place Bradley Arnold.

You can see all the results from the Summit Racing Midwest Drags right here.