For the past eight years it has been a real pain for Annette Summer to go racing.

Every time she folded her body up to squeeze behind the wheel of a turbo-boosted Pro Mod a sharp stabbing pain would resonate throughout her body and she would spend the next minute or two trying to stretch out behind the wheel to catch her breath and make the agony subside.

“Eight years I had been complaining to doctors with the same problem until finally in January, I went to a new doctor and she ordered the right tests that showed my gall bladder was bad,” she says.

For the past eight years it has been a real pain for Annette Summer to go racing.

Every time she folded her body up to squeeze behind the wheel of a turbo-boosted Pro Mod a sharp stabbing pain would resonate throughout her body and she would spend the next minute or two trying to stretch out behind the wheel to catch her breath and make the agony subside.

“Eight years I had been complaining to doctors with the same problem until finally in January, I went to a new doctor and she ordered the right tests that showed my gall bladder was bad,” she says.

Summer says it turned out her gall bladder was plagued by pre-cancerous polyps, so it was immediately removed and she felt better practically instantly.

Her medical problems continue, however, as upper back pain reared its ugly head last June and she’s looking at another surgery in the near future to correct it. Fortunately, Summer’s back specialist assured her of being “as good as new” upon recovery and she’s looking forward to getting back on track.

The 530-equipped, twin-turbocharged ’57 Chevy that she last drove in only one test pass last summer at Farmington, North Carolina, is in her Aiken, South Carolina shop, ready to go. Her last competitive appearance came in 2008 in a Quick 8 race at Orangeburg, South Carolina.

To help protect her back in the future, Summer has a new ISP poured seat to replace the “aluminum bucket” she previously rode in, and she’s added a new lever-operated air shifter purchased from Tim McAmis at the recent ADRL event in Valdosta, Georgia.

“So the car is ready to go; it’s just waiting on me,” she says. “Probably towards the end of July we’ll do local Quick 8s for now. I’ve got a lot of people begging me to put an automatic in it so we could run these automatic series.”

In the long term, Summer hopes to get back on a national stage, but not until she—and the car—are ready to be competitive.

“I’m not going to enter any big events until the car can show us it will do what it’s capable of,” she states. “In other words, I’m not going to go beg to get into the NHRA events or just enter races to get points because I don’t want to get the opportunity and then go there and just suck, pretty much.”

Summer is also looking forward to more personal interaction with her fans, who she appreciates continuing to keep in touch with her online through Facebook, message board and e-mail messages.

“It just makes my day that people want me out there, that people miss me,” Summer says. “I can’t begin to tell you how much all that means to me. So I’m really looking forward to feeling better and getting back out there.”