Racerchick Interview:  KELLY SUTTON

by Louis Stone-Collonge www.scatracing.com

Having Kelly Sutton is not only a 31-year-old mother of two; she is an accomplished racerchick. What makes this third generation racer even more special is how she has dealt with having MS. I had the privilege of getting to talk with Kelly back in July.

Kelly is currently running full time in the NASCAR Goody’s Dash Series and has also, taken the side trip to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this year. Her team is proudly sponsored by Team Copazone, Tevn Neuroscience and Royal Purple Synthetic Oil.

Louis: How did you get into racing?

Kelly: I am a third generation driver. My grandfather race and my dad raced for many years; I think from the time I was born until I was about 16. So, it was a natural think. I just wanted to be like them and getting into racing myself.

Louis: When did you actually start driving?

Kelly: I started driving when I was 19 years old.

Louis: And, that was after you were diagnosed with MS?

Kelly: Yea. I was diagnosed when I was 16. My dad and I had built my first racecar when I was 15, but I just kept getting’ sicker and we had to end the project because I diagnosed with MS.

Louis: How did you get a point where you could think about getting into a racecar?

Kelly: It was not something that was always plagued over me. I mean, MS comes and you are in remission; you are out of remission. You know, you can go a couple years without having an attack. And, when I was 19 my dad just came to me and asked if I still wanted to drive a racecar. And, you know, I said yes. So we started racing.

Louis: So how long have you been racing?

Kelly: About 12 years

Louis: What do you enjoy most about racing?

Kelly: I enjoy everything, I enjoy, you know, being in control of something that’s on the verge of being out of control. I love the competition. I love the speed; I like the horsepower; I like everything.

Louis: You tend to be competitive by nature?

Kelly: Yes, I am a very competitive person.

Louis: Are you one of those compete at everything—drive your friends crazy kind of deals?

Kelly: I wouldn’t say I drive my friends crazy. But, my dad just has always taught me to be the best I can be and, that includes, you know, doing everything at your best. And, if you didn’t do it good enough the first time, do it again. Try even harder. That’s just the way I’ve been raised: to challenge myself most of all. And, I have always challenged myself.

Louis: Did you start with late models?

Kelly: No, I started with ministocks on a local track. Then I raced one NASCAR Goody’s Dash in ’95, and then I got sick for a year and we had to sell everything, and then I raced for somebody, and then I raced Allison Legacy Series, and then I raced Parts Pro Truck Series.

Louis: Is this your first season in the dash?

Kelly: No, this is my fourth year, second full-time.

Louis: Where do you want to go from here?

Kelly: We want to look at every opportunity and make a decision on what we want to do. We haven’t made definite decisions yet, but we’re looking at lots of different things.

Louis: That’s fair enough. What has been your best experience in racing so far?

Kelly: Well, I think the most memorable experience in racing was winning the Metropolitan Auto Fan Club Award, back in the early ‘90’s. That’s something that’s very special to me because my grandfather won it in the ‘60’s and my dad won it in the ‘70’s.

Louis: What was your worst experience?

Kelly: There haven’t really been any really bad experiences in racing. I have my ups and downs, like running fourth in Daytona a few years ago and getting involved in a wreck. That was really disappointing because we had a really good car. This year at Daytona we had a really fast car and blew a power valve before we went out to qualify, so that dampened my qualifying run. There are a lot of ups and downs; I don’t know if I can name one particular thing that stands out especially.

Louis: Now I ‘d like to ask you about what I think are more interesting areas (and I call them my political questions) such as: Do you think there are still barriers to women who want to get into racing or advance in racing?

Kelly: No, I don’t think so.

Louis: My follow-up to that is: there are a lot of people out there who still believe they are dealing with an “old boys’” club. Do you just not experience that, or what?

Kelly: I think it’s all in the way you look at it. I don’t know why God made me a girl, but I love to race and wouldn’t be doing anything else. I’ve always worked on my own cars and been a real tomboy at heart. I think I go to the track as a driver, not as a girl. I want to be recognized as a driver, not for being female. When I put my helmet on, I’m a driver and as good as anybody else out there.

Louis: Which brings me to my next question which I am very curious about since I don’t have the driving experience and I have no idea of the female driver experience. There seem to be two sides for women in racing 1) I am not one of the guys, I am just a driver, sort of a gender neutral thing and 2) the politics of gender really are at play. How do you separate your racing from the more feminist approach? How do you deal with that?

Kelly: I really don’t think about it. As a driver, I just take everything in stride. I just go out and race. I’ve never had a lot of problems. Maybe I’m just that type of person who, if it is happening, I don’t recognize it cause I don’t let it bother me. Maybe its because I’m not out there saying “look at me, I’m a woman.” Maybe it’s just that I’m in a great series and I don’t really have any problems.

Louis: There’s a difference between Sarah Fisher and Shawna Robinson, Where Sarah talks a whole lot like you do, as if the whole gender thing is almost a meaningless distraction, and Shawna really uses gender as a promotional tool. Where do you come down on that?

Kelly: I think everybody has their own style and opinion, whether you’re male, female, or gorilla. We have our own opinions on how things should work and how they want to look at things. I do take to the Sarah Fisher way. I’ve always been a tomboy at heart; I’ve always wanted to race a car and I’ve never let anything, like being female, stop me from doing what I love to do. My main cause in racing right now is helping people with MS, and I do have MS. The most important thing to me is to be a good driver and challenge myself as a driver. I don’t want to be arrogant and draw attention to myself. I want to be recognized for who I am as a driver.

Louis: What advice do you have for someone who is looking to get started in racing?

Kelly: I think it’s important to get all the experience you possibly can on a local track. If you do decide to come into NASCAR, be serious about your decision, because it is a big step. You need to be dedicated 150%, you need to be married to your racing, and you definitely need to come in with talent. Work hard at honing your ability to drive.

Louis: Go out and wreck some pony stocks and start from the basics?

Kelly: Yes - I strongly suggest starting from the basics. It takes years to learn.

Louis: What’s the time commitment you have to put into this at your level of racing? About 40 hours a week?

Kelly: Yes, it’s pretty much 9-5 at this level of racing, and if you wreck a car and need to be gone for a couple of days, you pull all-nighters. It’s a very time-consuming job and the further you rise in rank, the more time-consuming it is.

Louis: Do you work on your Dash cars, or do you have a crew that does that for you?

Kelly: Well, we certainly have a crew, but I definitely like to help out. When I was racing local, it was just me and my dad and a couple of guys and I worked on cars just as hard as the guys did. Now, with interviews, the travel, and my health, I want to save my energy, so I’m not there every day. But when I go there I do like to pitch in. My favorite thing growing up was getting greasy. If I wasn’t greasy, I wasn’t having fun. At ten years old, I was changing quick-change rears in my dad’s late model. I was just always a tomboy. I always liked working on cars, and my dad always allowed me out in the shop growing up. On school nights, Mom would have to call me three or four times to get me in the house.  I wanted to learn about cars--that was me. And, my dad always took the time to teach me.

Louis: You’re spreading a message about MS, right, so where you don’t use gender, you do use your opportunities in public to talk about MS, what it has meant to you, and how you can have a normal life.

Kelly: Yes. It’s not that I use it, it’s that I take the opportunity from being in a public life to help other people. You know, MS is a devastating disease. There are therapies out there that people need to know about. I’ve been diagnosed with MS for going on 16 years now. They told me I’d be in a wheelchair in 8-10 years, and here I am, still going strong. My purpose is to encourage people, whether they’ve just been diagnosed or had it for a while, to see that life doesn’t end after diagnosis. I give them my experience with therapies such as Copaxon which is the therapy I take. Some of the other therapies I tried gave me severe side effects, which is pretty common. I encourage people to work with their doctor and find a therapy that works for them. If one therapy gives them bad side effects, don’t be afraid to try another one. People think life is over after diagnosis and I completely understand that cause its exactly the way I felt. I felt like my life was over when I was diagnosed at 16 years old. For me, it’s not about being discriminated against as a female out on the track; it’s about living with this disease and still continuing to fulfill my dreams. It’s about overcoming an adversity and continuously live in my dreams. If I don’t race anymore after tomorrow, I never thought I would make it this far. I thought my life was over when I was first diagnosed at 16. If I go no farther in racing than today, I will have accomplished more than I ever thought I could.

Louis: Best of luck to you and thank you for taking the time out to talk with racerchicks.com