Fueled by passion

You'll never catch Katie Sullivan running down the halls at Mercy High School. That's not to say she wouldn't do it, but with a top speed of over 180 mph, you're never going to catch her.

That's because Sullivan, the 18-year old daughter of Terri and Charlie Sullivan of Richfield, has recently opened the throttle to the world of professional motorcycle drag racing.

Before leaving to race in the United Association Route 66 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Nationals in Chicago this weekend, she stopped long enough to explain her almost lifelong need for speed.

"I started racing junior dragsters when I was about 9 years old,' Katie explained, ‘and I've been at the drag strips since I was a baby because my dad used to race drag bikes." 

She told her father she wanted to race a drag bike when she was 12, but at that time the protective fatherly instinct prevailed, and he said there was no way he was going to put her on one.

With her eyes strongly focused on a distant finish line, she kept after him and at 13, her father bought her a dirt bike and told her to ride it every day if she was serious about climbing onto a drag bike.
 
And ride it she did.

When Katie's father began racing again, she gained a hands-on education by working on his crew. It was then that he bought her an 1100 cc Kawasaki, and from there it progressed into where she is at today.

She made her professional debut in April, racing in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta. It was there that she turned in a top speed of 187 mph with an elapsed time of 7.12 seconds. Elapsed time is the time it takes a vehicle to travel from the starting line to the finish line. While falling just short of qualifying, Katie was ecstatic about her initial performance.

"I've always wanted to become the youngest female rider to ever qualify at a national event in NHRA," she said. The top 16 riders qualify, but Katie finished 18th, missing qualifying by four one-thousandths of a second. She was hoping to break the 190 mph barrier this weekend, with a new motor in her leased drag bike.

While Katie may have high-octane racing fuel coursing through her veins, it is parental blood her parents must temper each time she is at the starting line.

"It's dangerous and I always worry about her,' Terri admitted, ‘but there are other things she could do that could be more detrimental to her health."

Terri pointed out that unlike driving a car or motorcycle on the street, the drag strip is a controlled environment where immediate medical attention would be there in the event of an accident.

"Starting at age 12 she's driven for six years for this goal,' Terri said, adding, ‘you have to take some risks in life. Even though I pray her down the track, she is a very capable individual and is well equipped to do what she is doing."

Katie was quick to acknowledge the strong support she receives from her family.

"They have a hard time, but they've always been very supportive of everything I've ever wanted to do," she said. "They see it as my passion and I work very hard to be able to do it."

Hers is not all a world of high-adrenaline excitement, but Katie credits her love of racing for pushing her through the hard work she does in other facets of her life.

"I work hard in school, that was another part of the agreement," she said, estimating her grade-point-average at 4.1. She also logs a fair amount of time in the gymnasium, preparing her to be able to handle the physical demands of the sport.

There is a noticeable glimmer in Katie's eyes when she talks about her passion;  it's anything but a passing fancy. Katie hopes to turn drag bike racing into a full-time career, but is also attending California State University, Chico in the fall to major in business. She also plans on studying to become an auto body technician and to someday open her own body shop.

"People tell me it's going to be real hard, and that I should either just concentrate on school or racing,' Katie said, ‘but I'm driven and I know what I want to do. I've faced my share of criticism from people telling me that I can't do it and that's what drives me. That just makes me want to do it that much more."

Craig Purcell is the sports editor of Tri-County Newspapers. Contact him at 824-1036 or sports@tcnpress.com.