Just as the days of males-only racing, the days of doctors sending MS patients home to bed are gone. Today MS patients are pursuing all their dreams.
"I want people to know that life doesn't end after the diagnosis," Sutton says.
Killer InstinctWhen This Downright Nice Girl Puts On Her Helmet, Watch OutHer makeup is perfect. Not too much lipstick, but enough to give her color. Her nails are painted with just the right color. Her hair is done up nicely, not one strand out of place. She looks great, but they call her "Killer."
No, she isn't some femme fatale, Scarlett O'Hara type using her wiles to get her Rhett Butler. She might be a southern belle to the bone, but Angie Wilson is a race car driver through and through. And a tough one at that.
But a female racer with the nickname "Killer?"
Wilson started her racing career in 1989 racing go-karts. It's hard enough to be a girl at the age of 13, but to be a 13-year-old girl and rack up 40 wins against 13-year-old boys is another story altogether.
"We've always won every single division we have been in, whether it be in go-karts or Late Models," Wilson says. "It is harder with each step you move up, but when I was younger we were really tough. Every time we would go to a track we would win. It was a big joke that when we pulled up to the track everyone would say, 'Killer's here.' It is actually really embarrassing."
After her successful stint in go-karts, Wilson moved up to the Carolina Mini class at various North Carolina short tracks and collected 20 victories in 1991. From there she spent two years in the Mini-Stock division where she won both Rookie of the Year and five races in 1992. Wilson spent 1994 and 1995 in the Limited Sportsman Division and became the first woman to win in that class at both Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, North Carolina, and Hickory (North Carolina) Motor Speedway.
Her stint in the Limited Sportsman Division earned her two wins, seven poles, 10 Top 5s and a third-place finish in overall points. From there Wilson tried her hand at Late Model Stocks, and in 1997 she won a 150-lap event at Tri-County.
Wilson is looking for her first victory in the NASCAR Goody's Dash Series since starting in 1999. She may not have won in her Pontiac Sunfire, but she has already earned the respect of her fellow competitors. In 1999, her rookie season, Wilson was awarded the Most Popular Driver Award by the drivers of the Goody's Dash Series.
"To be given that honor at the end of the year made me feel that I had really gained their respect more than anything," Wilson says. "This is not only a dangerous sport, it is an expensive one. People have to put their trust in you to be able to race with you every single weekend. I think it comes back to being a pretty competitive, clean driver. That year I had five Top-5 finishes and some Top 10s as well. It kind of broke the ice with me being a female racer."
So how does Wilson get over that obstacle of being a female in a male-dominated sport?
"I think being a female driver gives you a lot of attention," she says. "I am sure any female driver would say, 'I am going to use that to my advantage.' There are some disadvantages to being a female, but there are a lot of advantages. Number one, you stand out, and that is good for the media. Another aspect is that is helps the sponsors. I definitely use being a female to my advantage, especially for my sponsors."
Wilson is a new breed of women racers. Gone are the days of female racers looking more like their fellow competitors than females in order to gain more respect. Wilson is a perfect example that you don't have to do that.
"My mom always said that she would let me race as long as I do my makeup and nails and fix up my hair," Wilson says with a laugh. "She really pushed me to keep up my looks. Everyone used to laugh at me because when I raced go-karts I would get out of the car and start cleaning the dirt off of my face. It really is a give and take as far as your image being a female racer."