Catalytic Converter Light

I was merging onto the highway today and threw my car in sport mode. I got no power when I stepped on the gas and thought I had a transmission issue. But I put it back in Drive and it ran ok, but the catalytic converter light went on. This happened before a couple years ago and the light went off after I fiddled with the gas cap, but I figured this time might be different because of the temporary loss of power. Has this happened to anyone else?

Should I drive my car before I take it to a dealer to get the code read?

if you mean the check engine light any auto parts store should read the code for free