She doesn't have a license, but she can drive
Fifteen-year-old Trophy Kart racer is a force on the dirt track and in the business world
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

Photo courtesy of KSS Racing ROUGH RIDER- Moorpark High sophomore Kayla Sues goes airborne during a recent Trophy Kart race. In only four months, Sues has earned a No. 4 ranking on her circuit.

After eight years of excelling in gymnastics, 15-year-old Moorpark resident Kayla Sues decided to quit the sport two years ago.

Sues, however, needed something to keep herself occupied and searched for another sport to compete in. What she found was something very different from gymnastics.

These days Sues spends her time on dirt tracks racing Trophy Karts, which are halfscale replicas of high-performance race trucks. In just over four months, Sues has earned a No. 4 ranking in the M4SX National Series.

She also owns her own business, KSS (Kayla Summer Sues) Racing. And, oh yeah, she doesn't even have a driver's license yet.

"I was kind of burnt out on gymnastics, and I wanted to try something new," Sues said. "Sometimes I look at all my gymnastics trophies and I wonder what would have happened if I continued with it, but I don't regret my decision. After the second lap of Trophy Kart racing I knew I was hooked."

Kayla Sues

Before she got into Trophy Kart racing, Sues spent her time driving go-karts on asphalt at the Jim Hall Kart Racing School in Oxnard. While there, Sues was trained by Hall, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1978 and 1980.

Hall has trained racing notables such as Danica Patrick, a regular on the IndyCar Series.

During Sues' stay at Hall's racing school, Hall went out of his way to tell her father, Tim, that Kayla was the best racing prospect he had seen since Patrick.

After a couple months, Sues got a phone call from her dad asking if she wanted to try a new form of racing with Trophy Karts.

"The sport is relatively new, so I had not heard of them before," Sues said. "I asked my father 'Is it like motocross racing?' When he said it kind of was, I told him that it sounded cool and I wanted to give it a try."

Shortly after the phone call, Sues tried Trophy Kart racing for the first time when she visited an uncle in Idaho. Although Sues struggled at first, by the end of her first week she posted the thirdfastest time at her event. According to Sues, it was the first time a junior Kart had made it on the week's leaderboard.

"It was pretty easy getting used to the new type of kart," Sues said. "You don't necessarily need as much driving skill in the Trophy Kart as when you are driving on asphalt. The first time I ever drove one, my adrenaline just shot through the roof. By the second lap I was already used to driving the truck."

Sues said she constantly wishes she could go faster in her Trophy Kart and loves to go fast through "whoops"- small ditches scattered throughout a course.

"A lot of people don't like going through whoops, but I think it's one of my strengths," Sues said. "It's actually easier to go through them if you drive faster, and I like driving fast."

Although Sues said she doesn't consider Trophy Kart racing to be dangerous, it's a far cry from gymnastics. However, when Tim Sues learned Kayla would be competing in the new sport, he was thrilled. Tim Sues currently serves as Kayla's crew chief and mechanic.

"I was happy that we would be doing something together as a family," Tim Sues said. "I wasn't really scared about what might happen to her. Now letting her date someone . . . that's scary to me."

Through her first four months of racing, Kayla Sues said she's come to love the atmosphere associated with the sport, describing it as a carnival mood that is more fan-friendly than other sports.

While Sues has many sponsors- including Barrett Pools Incorporated, The Racers Edge and RB Concepts- to support her racing, she said she's always looking for more support.

The Moorpark High sophomore started KSS Racing to promote her own team, as well as to sell Arrow Karts and Trophy Karts to prospective buyers.

"If we can gather more support, it would be great," Tim Sues said. "She's looking for more partners to help in her career. Hopefully they can grow as Kayla grows as a racer."

Kayla Sues will next race at the Championship Off Road Racing Series on Sept. 15-16 at the Antelope Valley Fair Grounds in Lancaster.