Cappetta Continues to Push Forward; Always Searching for Ways to Improve

Saturday night started with another good pill draw and this time it put Ashley on the pole to start her heat race, “The heat race was good. I had a little bit of stumble in the engine, we had too much fuel going into it.” The engine stumble hit the hardest on the starts, “I felt bad for the guy in third, I’m thankful that he gave me a little shove.”
Cappetta won her heat, putting her in the redraw for the feature. After the heat, Cappetta and the team called the engine builder and were able to change things in the fuel system for the feature, “The temperatures were cooler than they have been on Saturday which made a big difference. We ended up having to make some adjustments due to the weather conditions.”

When the field saw the green for the feature the engine stumble was gone. With the engine stumble not an issue Cappetta could focus on the race, “The car was loose early and I was not comfortable. I ended up with the wing in the trunk early, I didn’t want it back so early but I had no choice based on what I was working with.” Having the wing so far back helped Cappetta glue the car to the bottom of the track, “Unfortunately it was too late, I was getting ready to pass a car before the third red. It’s hard to say where I would have ended up. We ended the night with a top 10 but not sure that would have happened if the top two cars hadn’t wrecked out.”

With a week off to regroup Cappetta and the team will be focused on figuring out how to get the car better in the features, “We really need to get this slick track figured out. We’re having a heck of a time and can’t figure out why.” During the downtime, Ashley will be on vacation with her family, a much-needed respite from the grind of running her own business and race team.

Ashley would like to thank the fans and everyone who purchased merchandise on Saturday, “I appreciate all of the support from the fans before and after the races, and for everyone that bought merchandise. We are going to be able to give the Emig Family a good amount as a portion of my merchandise sales from the weekend will go to them.”

During intermission it was brought to Cappetta’s attention that another team filed a complaint with officials that she was wearing an Apple watch, something that is not permitted per Lincoln’s rulebook, “I screwed up not knowing the rulebook, there’s no excuse to miss knowing the rules. As soon as the official approached me, I removed the watch and did not put it back on for the rest of the night.” As many people do, Ashley uses the watch to track her health and fitness, “When I think of my Apple watch, I use it to track steps and keep tabs on reminders throughout the day. I’ve never used it for anything other than that.”

The amount of effort it would take to use an Apple watch to gain an advantage is not something that Cappetta is interested in, “My mind is so focused on what I need to do in the car I don’t have time to worry about communicating with the team. Plus the team is older and technology is not something they would even think about trying to figure out and use. Then there’s the fact that you’d have to have both your watch and phone to do anything illegal and I’ve never taken my phone onto the track.”

Cappetta had one final statement regarding the allegations made: “Our trailer is always open. Anyone can come in and take a look or talk to me at any time. I’ve put too much into what I’ve built and have too much pride to cheat. That is something the ACR team will never do.”

Up Next

Lincoln Speedway, Saturday, August 3 at 7PM

Season Stats

7 races, 0 wins, 0 top 5’s, 4 top 10’s, 6 top 15’s