Athletes

Kelly Sutton is a recipient of the 2003 Wilma Rudolph Courage Award. Currently a member of the Goody Dash Series and a member of Team COPAXONE, the drug used to reduce the frequency of relapses for her Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Sutton is one of the top female auto racers in the United States. Her career started off later than expected after being diagnosed with MS in 1988. After her diagnosis, Sutton's racing career finally began in 1992. She started off racing on the Old Dominion Speedway/Pro Mini-Stock Series where she won seven feature races, 20 qualifiers and five pole positions. Sutton was voted the Most Popular Driver all three years (1992-1994) on the series and received the Metropolitan Auto Racing Fan Club Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia Award in 1994 an award won by her grandfather and father. In 1997 Sutton became the first woman to win regionally and nationally on the Allison National Legacy Series. She won two feature races and three pole postions on the Allison Legacy Pennsylvania Series in the same year. Sutton moved onto the Part Pro Truck Series in 1998 where she won one qualifying race and the Oral B Close Brush Award. In 2000 she moved up to the Goody's Dash Series, a NASCAR Touring Division where she competed in two races and had a 16th-place finish in one. Sutton's dream was to race at the Daytona International Speedway, and her dream became a reality in 2001. She also raced in the DaytonaUSA.com 150 where she was in the top five throughout most of the race. In 2002 Sutton competed in 14 races where she finished 12th in overall points. She was honored as the Most Popular Driver and finished third in Rookie of the Year standings. (10/03)