Story By: EMILY WINSLOW / ASHLEY CAPPETTA RACING – ABBOTTSTOWN, PA – Sometimes when you get what you wish for it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Last year Cappetta wanted nothing more than to pull a low number at pill draw. Cappetta’s pill draw luck took a turn this season and the team has been consistently drawing low numbers, but not low enough to start on the pole of her heat, most weeks she has lined up second, “I’m tired of starting second, if the person in first is playing games you don’t want the jump to be called. At this point I would honestly rather start third, there is so much pressure starting on the front row.”
The start of Cappetta’s heat race put her behind the eight-ball, “I felt that the start of the heat race was not good and thought it should have been called back and it wasn’t.” Cappetta fell back to third right away, “Falling back early on a track like that was rough. Coming off turn 4 it was dirty and slick and I just didn’t have the car to make up for it.” Cappetta did move her line up after seeing other drivers make it work but it was too late at that point to make much of a difference, “It sucks that deal happened, but if I had a better car I would have been able to make up for it.”
Cappetta lined up 17th for the feature and was able to make her way up through the field, “If I could have gotten by one car a little bit sooner I think we could have had a top 10. The last several months we have been having issues with the car falling on the right rear and on Saturday we did not have that problem at all.” Similar to the heat race, moving up the track would have likely led to better results, “When its slick like it was on Saturday I need to work on getting comfortable moving up to the top. I wasn’t comfortable enough to move up during the feature but it would have helped me get by cars running the same line as me.” Cappetta finished the night crossing the line thirteenth, “I’m looking forward to moving on to next week and hope for better results.”
Fallen Firefighters Night Special for Cappetta
Once again Cappetta ran a special wing for the Fallen Firefighters Race/”Guise-Little Memorial” on Saturday, “I’ve known the Little Family for a long time and have gotten to meet the Guise Family being involved with the race, they are an incredible group of people.”
Cappetta, a volunteer firefighter herself, knows how special this race is, “Anytime you lose someone that commits a service to the community it is an honor to honor their life. These people are dedicating their time for free with no other benefit than helping people, and they paid the ultimate sacrifice in doing that.”
There are a lot of incredible people that put their heart and soul into the race, Don Livingston, Whitney Dietrich and Jeff Staub, plus countless others. Prior to the start of the 410 sprint car feature, Cappetta had the opportunity to pace the field alongside Chad Trout, who was also running a special wing design for the night, “We’re thankful that Chad is willing to work with us to have the special wing wrap and it was neat to get to pace the field with him.”
Racing With a Heavy Heart
News spread through the pits prior to cars taking the track about fellow racer, Riley Emig’s motorcycle accident, “Before I even started racing on Saturday I heard the news about Riley and it was on my mind all night.” Not far from the track, Emig was involved in an accident that unfortunately took his life, “I raced with Riley and watching him race quarter midgets, it was a hard pill to swallow, especially hearing the news on Fallen Firefighters Night, knowing his sister is involved with the fire company.”
Ashley and the entire Cappetta Racing Team are keeping Riley’s friends, family and fellow racers in their thoughts and prayers as they navigate this difficult time.