Kelly Sutton

For the entrepreneur, see Michael Kelly Sutton.
Kelly Sutton
Born (1971-09-24) September 24, 1971
Crownsville, Maryland
Awards

1992 Hard Charger Award at Old Dominion Speedway

1992 Sportsmanship Award at Old Dominion Speedway

1992 Hard Charger Award Old Dominion Speedway

1993 Metropolitan Auto Racing Fan Club Of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Award

1992–1994 Winner of Most Popular Driver award at Old Dominion Speedway

1997 First Woman To Win In Allison Legacy Series

1997 Won Two Features and Three Poles

1997 Most Popular Driver – Allison Legacy Pennsylvania Series

1998 Oral B Close Brush Award - Parts Pro Truck Series
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
54 races run over 5 years
Best finish 26th (2004)
First race 2003 O'Reilly 200 (Memphis)

Kelly Renae "Girl" Sutton (born September 24, 1971)[1] is a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, who is currently a free agent. She has run the most races by a female in Craftsman Truck series history and drove the #02 Chevrolet Silverado owned by herself and father, Ed Sutton. She was the only racer, male or female, known to race with multiple sclerosis before Trevor Bayne was diagnosed in 2013.

Beginnings

Sutton began racing at the age of 10 before her career was halted due to her diagnosis of MS at the age of sixteen. She resumed racing in 1992 at Old Dominion Speedway, driving in the Pro Mini Stock Series. During her first year of competition, Sutton won the Hard Charger and Sportsmanship awards. During her three years competing in the series, she won seven feature races and won the Most Popular Driver award all three years.

Return to racing

Sutton would not race again until 1997 in the Allison Pennsylvania Legacy Series. She won two feature races and the Most Popular Driver Award. The next 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 advanced to the NASCAR Dash Series, where she competed in two races and had a sixteenth-place finish. She posted her first top-ten in the division the following year, before competing full-time in 2002, winning the Most Popular Driver award and finishing third in rookie standings.

Craftsman Truck Series

Sutton made her NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in 2003 at Memphis Motorsports Park, where she started 34th and finished 27th after suffering early transmission failure. She ran three more races that year, her best finish being a 19th at the season-ending Ford 200. She made her first full-time bid for the championship in 2004, with sponsorship from Copaxone. She finished seventh for NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors and 26th in championship points, her best points finish to date. Her best finish that season came at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway, where she finished 20th. She returned in 2005, posting a career-best fifteenth-place run at the Quaker Steak and Lube 200, despite dropping to 29th in points.

In 2006, she competed in twelve races, missing two races due to injury. Brad Keselowski was hired to drive the two races that her team was entered in, but that she could not race in due to her injury. Her best finish was a nineteenth at Gateway International Raceway.

For 2007, she drove three races in the #51 truck for Billy Ballew Motorsports. In June 2007, Sutton finished 20th at the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200, her last race to date.

Post-racing career

On Sunday, April 7, 2013, Sutton was severely injured in a motorcycle accident while riding as a passenger. The person she was riding with died. She was taken to an area hospital in critical condition. [2]

References

External links

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