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Woman with multiple sclerosis makes mark in NASCAR racing series
By Mike Hembree
STAFF WRITER
The Greenville News
Kelly Sutton is a woman racing in a NASCAR touring series.
That alone makes her unusual, but that is not the unusual part of her story.
Sutton, 30, a third-year driver on the Goody's Dash circuit from Crownsville, Md., has multiple sclerosis, a disease she has fought for 14 years.
Sutton, who is scheduled to compete in Saturday night's Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 100 Dash race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, was diagnosed with MS, a disease that attacks the nervous system, at the age of 16. Symptoms can include vision problems, muscle weakness, imbalance, fatigue and intellectual impairment.
Sutton has driven race cars since 1992, when she began her career at Old Dominion Speedway in Virginia. She moved into the Dash series two years ago and is racing the full schedule for the first time this season.
Entering Saturday's race, Sutton has one top 10 finish and is 13th in series points. More importantly, she has not let MS and its repercussions stop her progress.
"Racing is my passion and my love," said Sutton, whose father and grandfather raced on short tracks. "When you love something so much and want to do it so bad, you can overcome a lot of things. MS really doesn't get in the way. I have it under control with Copaxone (a prescription medicine) and medicines I take for symptoms."
The makers of Copaxone sponsor Sutton's team, and she frequently speaks to MS support groups. Her family owns her team, and the sponsorship allows her to be a full-time racer and spokeswoman for MS treatment.
"I travel all over the United States and share my story with patients," she said. "I know what it's like to be newly diagnosed and to lose sight of life. I want to help other people know that life doesn't end after the diagnosis. They can find therapy in what works for them, finding something they believe in.
"After being diagnosed with MS, I never thought I'd get to this point. I was angry at a disease that I didn't know anything about. I didn't want to know. I was 16.
"You're dealt a hand of cards. You have to learn how to play it. I was dealt a hand with MS, but I don't let it stop me. There are days when I have to rest for a couple of hours, but that just becomes part of my game."
Although Sutton wrestles with fatigue and weakness caused by the disease, she said she hasn't had a major MS attack for three years.
"But it's not like it's gone away," she said. "MS is very active in the body. It's always there."
Sutton suffered a relapse of the disease in 1996 after she was seriously injured in a passenger-car accident in 1995.
"My body went through so much trauma in the accident that I think that brought on the attack," she said.
Her car skidded in an ice storm and hit a tree, leaving her with a severe head injury, a collapsed lung, broken ribs and other injuries.
She stayed out of racing in 1996 but returned the next season to score two wins in the Allison Legacy short-track series.
She fulfilled what she called her lifelong dream -- to race at Daytona International Speedway -- in a Goody's Dash race in 2001. She finished 11th in last February's Dash race at the track.
By Mike Hembree
STAFF WRITER
The Greenville News
Kelly Sutton is a woman racing in a NASCAR touring series.
That alone makes her unusual, but that is not the unusual part of her story.
Sutton, 30, a third-year driver on the Goody's Dash circuit from Crownsville, Md., has multiple sclerosis, a disease she has fought for 14 years.
Sutton, who is scheduled to compete in Saturday night's Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 100 Dash race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, was diagnosed with MS, a disease that attacks the nervous system, at the age of 16. Symptoms can include vision problems, muscle weakness, imbalance, fatigue and intellectual impairment.
Sutton has driven race cars since 1992, when she began her career at Old Dominion Speedway in Virginia. She moved into the Dash series two years ago and is racing the full schedule for the first time this season.
Entering Saturday's race, Sutton has one top 10 finish and is 13th in series points. More importantly, she has not let MS and its repercussions stop her progress.
"Racing is my passion and my love," said Sutton, whose father and grandfather raced on short tracks. "When you love something so much and want to do it so bad, you can overcome a lot of things. MS really doesn't get in the way. I have it under control with Copaxone (a prescription medicine) and medicines I take for symptoms."
The makers of Copaxone sponsor Sutton's team, and she frequently speaks to MS support groups. Her family owns her team, and the sponsorship allows her to be a full-time racer and spokeswoman for MS treatment.
"I travel all over the United States and share my story with patients," she said. "I know what it's like to be newly diagnosed and to lose sight of life. I want to help other people know that life doesn't end after the diagnosis. They can find therapy in what works for them, finding something they believe in.
"After being diagnosed with MS, I never thought I'd get to this point. I was angry at a disease that I didn't know anything about. I didn't want to know. I was 16.
"You're dealt a hand of cards. You have to learn how to play it. I was dealt a hand with MS, but I don't let it stop me. There are days when I have to rest for a couple of hours, but that just becomes part of my game."
Although Sutton wrestles with fatigue and weakness caused by the disease, she said she hasn't had a major MS attack for three years.
"But it's not like it's gone away," she said. "MS is very active in the body. It's always there."
Sutton suffered a relapse of the disease in 1996 after she was seriously injured in a passenger-car accident in 1995.
"My body went through so much trauma in the accident that I think that brought on the attack," she said.
Her car skidded in an ice storm and hit a tree, leaving her with a severe head injury, a collapsed lung, broken ribs and other injuries.
She stayed out of racing in 1996 but returned the next season to score two wins in the Allison Legacy short-track series.
She fulfilled what she called her lifelong dream -- to race at Daytona International Speedway -- in a Goody's Dash race in 2001. She finished 11th in last February's Dash race at the track.
