Alund right at home in current role as Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro pilot
 
Mooresville, N.C., March 12, 2014 – This weekend, eight-time FIA European Pro Stock champion Jimmy Alund will continue his six-race venture with Summit Racing as he takes on the competition at the third of 24 races on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour, the 45th annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals. Alund, a native of Sweden, is appreciating the opportunity to race alongside Jason Line while KB Racing’s Greg Anderson is getting back in shape following surgery to repair a bicuspid aortic valve. A longtime Chevrolet enthusiast, Alund feels right at home behind the wheel of the second Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro.
 
“When I was 18, I went and bought a 1970 Chevelle with a big block and a 4-speed in it,” said Alund. “I had it for two weeks then I drove it to the racetrack. I made 13 runs and on the 14th run, I broke the rear end. That was the start of my drag racing days. Ever since, I’ve probably raced 15-20 different racecars through the years, moving up from 14-second to where we’re at today. I’m a Chevy guy – or a GM guy – I can tell you that.”
 
In addition to his avid appreciation of the Chevrolet brand, Alund is a dedicated drag racer with a passion for the exceptionally competitive Pro Stock category.
 
“I was running outlaw racing over there in Sweden – a big nitrous motor and Lenco [transmission], and you competed against people with blowers. We didn’t have any weight breaks, and you went up to the starting line knowing the guy next to you had a lighter car and 500 more horses. I got tired of that. I was successful for a couple of years, we won the series, but then I was thinking. Pro Stock always interested me because I like engines, and Pro Stock has the most sophisticated engines of anything. I said to my guys, let’s try that. You have equal equipment when you go up there, and if you’re smart and you do a good job, then you have a chance to win.”
 
Alund experienced much success in the prestigious category overseas and won his first championship in 2004, just his second year in the category.
 
“We pretty much dominated the whole season,” he recalled. “We were the first Pro Stocker to 200 miles per hour, and on that same run we were the first into the 6.80s. We won six races out of seven that season and set records. Last year we had a very similar year. It is a hobby, but it’s a big part of my life.”
 
Alund has been making a name for himself in America driving the second Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro. In Pomona, Alund qualified for his first NHRA national event, and in Phoenix two weeks ago, he came within a few thousandths of a second of beating former world champion Allen Johnson in the opening round.
 
This weekend’s Gatornationals will be another opportunity for Alund to earn his first round win – or more – on American soil, and the racetrack at Gainesville is a location with which the successful European drag racer is comfortable. He has raced there twice before and will have a strong group of supporters on hand to cheer for him and for Team Summit.
 
“I know my way around there; Gainesville has a long shutdown area and a very smooth track,” said Alund, who will drive the dark red Summit Racing Chevrolet Camaro at the event. “It’s a nice facility, and I have a lot of friends in Florida. I think we will have a lot of people from Scandinavia there on vacation, and I look forward to it. Maybe this is the place to get the first round win.”