Kelly Sutton

It proves that with tenacity, determination and a great strength of character anything can be accomplished and this is just what Kelly "Girl" Sutton has done. Having been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of sixteen Kelly thought that her dream of becoming a race car driver had come to an abrupt end but with the help of her family she overcame her disability to become a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, one of the few women drivers and certainly the only person to compete in races whilst having this illness.

Her love of cars and racing started when she was only a toddler, she would watch her father race at the tracks or when repairing cars in the garage. By the time she was ten years old her father had bought her a second hand motorcycle that she would race around and at twelve years of age she was racing go-karts around the tracks, steadily progressing her career over the next four years until receiving the terrible confirmation of her illness. Kelly was devastated and sank into a depression for about two years but her family were not going to give up. The family did research into the disease and together with a balance of correct diet, exercise and a daily injection Kelly’s life began on course again. Not wanting to stand by and let his daughter not realise her dream Ed Sutton asked his daughter when she was nineteen if she still wanted to have a race car, she replied "How can I? I have multiple Sclerosis. Her father proceeded to build a replica of her car but instead of pedals for gas and brakes, he fitted stiff racing shock absorbers of about 100 lb resistance to each pedal which was in turn connected to the steering wheel so that for her to turn left she had to do so with a 100lb resistance, building her muscles up again. Her father said, "When you can do 100 laps on this then we will be ready to race again". Keeping to the health regime Kelly returned to racing in 1992, competing at the Old Dominion Speedway driving in the Pro Mini Stock Series.

Her first race was a success, qualifying in eighth position she went on to finish in fourth place. During her first year she won the Hard Charger and the Sportsmanship Awards. In the three years she spent competing in the Series Kelly won the "Most Popular Driver" award for all three years and won seven feature races. She raced again in 1997 in the Allison Pennsylvania Legacy Series when she won two feature races and again the "Most Popular Driver" award.

The following year she competed in the Parts Pro Truck Series where she won one qualifying race and the Oral B Close Brush Award. In 2000 she went up to the NASCAR Dash Series, competing in two races with a sixteenth place finish, gaining her first Top 10 finish the following year. In 2002 she took on a full schedule and again won the "Most Popular Driver" Award, finishing third in rookie standings. Advancing to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2003 she made her debut at Memphis Motorsports Park, starting in 34th position and finished, after transmission failure, in 27th position. She competed in three more events that year, finishing at 19th position, her best finish, in the Ford 200 event. Kelly made a bid for the championship in 2004 when she finished seventh for NASCAR’s “Rookie of the Year” honours and 26th, her best points finish to date, in championship points. Kelly achieved her career best of 15th at the Quaker Steak and Lube 400 in 2005.

In 2006 her best finish was at Gateway International Raceway and in 2007 she drove the #51 truck for Billy Ballew Motorsports for three races and finishes her last race to date in 20th position at the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200. Kelly Renae Sutton was born on the 24th of September 1971 in Crownsville, Maryland and has shown that with a positive attitude and willpower; even the most adverse conditions can be overcome. She shares her success by travelling around America giving hope and inspiration to other Multiple Sclerosis sufferers. Speaking at an interview Kelly responded to the interviewer’s question about speaking about MS in public by responding,

"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 because it’s 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 fulfil 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".

She lives in Crownsville, Maryland with husband, Butch, and daughters, Ashlee and Nicole.

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