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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.
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.”
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.
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.
