KARSYN ELLEDGE is the maternal granddaughter of seven-time NASCAR Cup champion, DALE EARNHARDT, and paternal granddaughter of KERRY ELLEDGE, Earnhardt’s engine builder for the iconic No.3 Chevrolet. Her mother is KERRY EARNHARDT ELLEDGE-Manager of JR Motorsports, father is Crew Chief JEFF ELLEDGE and DALE Jr is her uncle. The 12-year old will start her race career this year, racing the No. 3 Sandy Cheeks Mini Outlaws kart sponsored by Nickelodeon. It has 50 hp.
Dad said his daughter’s racing wasn’t scripted or planned.
The young gal had the presence of a an older driver – she’s got the media and interviewing skills down pat already. She didn’t forget to mention her sponsor seamlessly in her remarks.
“My family’s history in racing is something I’m very proud of. Both my mom and dad were born into racing families and they were very passionate about the sport. They’ve passed that passion on to me, and it’s something I really enjoy.”
Elledge, an eighth-grader, has been racing Mini Outlaws for the past four years at Millbridge Speedway in NC. She already has won five of eight Box Stock races, in a kart prepared by her father. This is her second year running No.3, with which she won the 2012 Box Stock Championship, with five wins, four of which were back to back. She also won a couple of 125cc division races. The year before she ran No.333 to promote a bill to make stock car racing the official state sport of NC, which happened. In her first year of racing karts, she never finished lower than third.
As her favorite color is pink, a special pink driver’s suit for Elledge was fashioned with Sandy Cheeks and SpongeBob. She’ll have lots of chances to show it off as she will run 23 races in North Carolina California, Oregon and Montana. Her California races include seven at Oroville, plus Lakeport, an Sacramento. She will also race three times in Medford OR and once in Missoula MT. This in addition to all the NC races.
The night before the announcement at Sonoma Raceway, Karsyn and dad were watching Karts at Watsonville Speedway, near Monterey CA.