In Jan 2018, Katy's mother, Beverly, read her nephew, Jordan's, FB post about he and Katy's uncle Kenny racing in Sebring. Beverly asked Katy if she wanted to go and with Katy having no plans, they went to see the Bupps race. Tom & his son, Thomas, are also part of the Bupp/Palm Express Racing team. Tom approached Katy late in the day and uttered one simple sentence, "Hello Katy". Much to Katy's surprise, she turned around and gave Tom a big hug saying, "Hi Tom!! You see, Katy is typically more reserve initially, so this response confused her (& probably Tom too). Upon departing Sebring, Katy offered to show Tom her beloved city of St. Pete if he was ever in town. As fate would have it, Tom's home was being tented for termites the following weekend. They made plans and for the most part have spent most every weekend together since.