Sonona: Katie Sullivan preview

'KALIFORNIA' KATIE RETURNS TO NHRA TOUR AT HOME TOWN RACE

Sonoma, Calif. - 19-year old NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer 'Kalifornia' Katie Sullivan and her Corning, Calif. based team will return to the NHRA Full Throttle Tour this weekend during the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals contested at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

Sullivan last competed on tour in early March during the NHRA Gatornationals. After failing to qualify for the 16-bike field, the Sullivan Family team decided to pack up their equipment and head back to their Northern California shop to regroup and focus on returning to the NHRA Full Throttle Series close to their home, their family and their friends.

"We had all the intentions in the world to race the entire season in Pro Stock Motorcycle, however after the first three races it became apparent we were not ready to take on this task," noted Sullivan who is attending college as well as building her own trailer sales company. "Our goal is to compete with the best out there and we just didn't have confidence in our equipment. We came back home and my dad (Charlie) and I have been working non-stop trying to put together a competitive bike. Mike Fields, Jr. has been helping us with his expert tuning abilities and we are very excited to debut our new "ZEBRA-ZILLA" themed Suzuki this weekend at Sonoma."

Katie's new motorcycle is a former Antron Brown / DSR Suzuki which she loves to ride. However, for the "wild-child" of NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racing, the learning curve with the new equipment has not been without its challenges. "Each motorcycle built is different in the way it rides, shifts, and handles the race-track," Sullivan said. "This bike is one of the smoothest riding Suzuki's I've ever ridden and you can tell how much skill and effort it took to build this bike. We began testing by putting a slower engine combination in it at first, just to give me some seat time. We've got the bike making more horsepower than we have in our time in PSB. I'm so stoked to see what we can do in front of my friends and family who are coming out to the races this weekend."

-source: sullivan family racing