Katie Sullivan Denver Final Report

Bandimere Speedway

Mile-High dreams will have to wait another year for the Sullivan Team.

For the Sullivan Racing/K&N Filters team, getting back out and competing was just part of the goal at this weekends 32ndAnnual Mopar Mile High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway. The second part of the goal was qualifying and making the show.

Katie Sullivan, 1998 Suzuki GSXR

Photo by: Ted Rossino

On Friday the first couple of passes were competitive, in fact their first base-run of 7.51 at 176.38MPH made the cut of 12. After the second pass, the team improved running a 7.484 at 176.70MPH, which put them in the #16 spot heading into Saturday. Because of the qualifying rules taking the top 12 only, the slate was wiped clean and the team would have to quicken up those times if they wanted to secure a spot for Sunday.

On Saturday the K&N Filters Suzuki would have to find some extra horsepower to maintain their spot in the show, needing to dial in a low-forty ETA to be competitive and move on to Sunday. Keeping that spot would be a challenge, as several top competitors including Angie Smith, LE Tonglet and eventual race winner Karen Stoffer had yet to qualify. Their round three run didn't improve as Katie missed a shift into second gear, shutting her down early. In Q4, the team rallied to run a consistent 7.513 at 177.02MPH but that was not enough to make the show and thus ending the weekend for the Sullivan Racing/K&N Filters race team.

"We just had some issues this weekend, and it was like we were chasing our tails," Said Katie. "We did learn some lessons, and we will be ready to go net weekend in Sonoma. The Sullivan Racing/K&N Filters team will be ready to get back at it next weekend at the 24th Annual Fram/Autolite NHRA Nationals July 29-31st at Infineon Raceway, which is Katie’s home track. “We always want to make a good showing for our hometown fans, so we will take our data and look to improve next week.”