Emily VanInwegen

* At age 5,  Emily began racing Go-karts on the road course at Oakland Valley Race Park in   Cuddebackville,NY...   She competed in the Kid Kart division and finished 5th in the point standings. 

*  Emily's fellow competitors that 1st season included : Evan Kalogiannis, Sage Karem, Chase Coyne, Brian Ruger, and Kyle Jashembowski.

*  Emily's  brother, Billy and her sister, Lara also competed at  O.V.R.P.  on Sunday afternoons in 2000. 

*  The Johnson Family from Ambler, Pa  took over operation of Oakland Valley Race Park circa year 2000..... Tom and  Penny along with their daughters, Kate and Lexis,   ran a 1st class and  family oriented racing facility for several years.  It was a pleasure to race there, and a nice place to spend every sunday afternoon.      

* Emily raced the entire 2001 season on the road course at Oakland Valley Race Park . She finished 9th in the highly competitive Kid Kart Divisional point standings.  She was 3rd in The Challenge Series which consisted of 4 select races

* Emily's faithful pitcrew consisted of her mom and dad, her grandfather -  Bill V, and family friend -  Ron Heinzelman.  Ron hand built our team an awesome enclosed trailer that allowed us to bring four karts to the track.  All three VanInwegen kids continued to race at OVRP 2001.    

* New competitors in the Kid Kart Class that year were Thomas Radivoy, Emily Keller, Brandyn Embler, and Dana Dandeneau.   Sage Karam was the points champ.

* Towards the end of the 2001 season, Emily also raced her Kid Kart on the dirt oval track at Oakland  Valley Race Park.

* Kid Karts again in 2002 for Emily V...... This year Em finished 8th in the season Point Standings at Oakland Valley Race Park.

* Racing in the rain was one of Emily's favorate things to do in 2002 (photo above).   When the rain tires went on her car, Emily came alive.  She won two feature races that year, Both of them were in the rain.    

* New competitors in Emily's division were : James Dekrone, Luke Bugdin, Kyle Jashembowski, Thomas Radivoy, Corey Comier, Emma Landauer, Steve Landspurg, and Michael Sedlack. The points championship went to Dana Dandeneau in 2002.  

* Emily continued to run a few races on Dirt with her Kid Kart.   

* Emily's dad - Bill Sr,  brought a Dirt Sportsman car and raced for the 1st time towards the end of 2002.  His good friend, Jeremy "The Bullfrog" Markle traveled with dad to various Speedways in NY and PA.    

*In 2003,  Emily raced Kid Karts on the road course at Oakland Valley Race Park  for the final time in her career.

* She finished 4th in the point  standings .......  New compeditors that year were Erin Dunn,   Aiden Landauer,  and Aston Bardzell.   The points champion in 2003  was Corey Comier.   

* Emily's older sister, Lara , continued to be with Emily on Sundays at the track. After two track championships, Lara decided it was time to hang up her racing shoes and start earning money to put towards owning an automobile,  While Emily was racing on the track, Lara was working in the concession stand but she was still able to watch Emily compete. 

* Dad,  (Bill Sr)  was racing every Friday night in the dirt sportsman division at The Accord Speedway     

 * The team purchased  a " Micro-Stock" race car for Emily to drive in 2004.  Emily competed weekly at The Hamlin Speedway in Hamlin, Pa .  

* Fellow competitors in the Micro-Stock Jr. Sportman class included Marci Cohen, Lindsey Cohen, Russell Benke, and David Hopkins

* Emily won three features that year.  Her first win on a dirt track was recorded on August 14th, 2004.

 * Emily competed in the Micro-Stock Jr. Sportsman class once again at The Hamlin Speedway.  She kept the same car as the previous season but it received a new paint job.   Emily's racing #19  was now back on the side of the car. Two of her sponsors were on there as well...... 

* Len & Jo's Racing and Winter's Napa Auto Parts of Port Jervis, NY were two of Emily's biggest suporters in 2005 .  We kept this car at The Len & Jo's Garage and got financial support from Tom Laner at Napa.         The Len & Jo's garage is owned by  Jeremy "The Bullfrog" Markle's who races Dirt Modified cars at The Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown,NY .   

 * Emily won numerous features that year at Hamlin and she continued to compete against her friends,  Russell Benke and Lindsey Cohen.

*The team purchased an additonal Tobias Slingshot car towards the end of the 2005 season.   Bill Sr drove this car in several events,   and plans were being made to turn the seat over to Emily for the 2006 season.   

* Emily moved up to a Tobias Slingshot car in the spring of 2006.  She competed in the Jr. Slingshot class at the Hamlin Speedway in Hamlin, Pa .

* Randy Smith put a new body on the team's used slingshot car from the 2005 season.  Emily was able to keep the number 19 on the side of this  car.     Bill V Sr traded his dirt sportsman car for another slingshot car and now the VanInwegen race team was bringing 3 slingshot cars to The Hamlin Speedway every Saturday Night. 

* Emily won a few heat races and one feature in her first year of slingshot competition.   Some of her Fellow drivers that year were : Nick Snyder, Zack O'Connell, Mackenzie Brink, Adam Brown, Mark Berkenstock, Brian Gilmore, and points champ - Ryan Wood.   

* There almost wasn't any racing at The Hamlin Speedway in 2006.   Randy and Denise Smith rescued the track from certain closure.   They ran a great, family oriented program.   The track was 2nd to none !!!.......  Billy V Jr won the Sr Slingshot Points Championship that year.   

 * Emily competed, weekly,  in the Jr. Slingshot Division at The Hamlin Speedway.  She won several feature events at Hamlin that year and finished 4th in the point standings.   Mark "Sparky" Berkenstock was the points champ. 

*  In 2007, Emily and the team traveled to some different speedways as she competed in several Tobias Slingshot Jr. National Tour Events.  She raced at The Orange County Fair Speedway, Borger's Speedway, Selinsgrove Raceway Park, The Reading Fairgrounds,  and The Greenwood Valley Action Track.   Emily finished 4th in the 2007 Jr. National Tour Points.  

* Two big victories came Emily's way during the 2007 season.   She won two Tobias Slingshot Jr. National Tour Races :     August 11th at The Hamlin Speedway  .....  and August 17th at Selinsgrove Speedway.   Her win at Selinsgrove, Pa  came on the same night that her brother, Billy won the Sr. tour race.  The above photo is      from that night in Victory Lane.  

             * Big brother, Billy .. went on to win the 2007 Tobias Slingshot National Championship.                    

* At age 12, Emily moved up to the Senior Slingshot division and competed at the Hamlin Speedway on a weekly basis.  She finished 11th in the points standings in this highly competitive division.  She won several heat races and was very close to winning a feature race but lost on a last lap pass by Cody Kline.

* Emily also competed in the 2008 National Slngshot Senior Tour.  New tracks for Emily included Linda's Speedway in Jonestown, Pa.... Kutztown,Pa Fairgrounds.... and even, Deercreek Speedway in Minnesota!   

* Two big top 3 finishes in National Tour races helped Emily finish 9th in The 2008 Tobias Slingshot National Tour Points ...   She was 2nd at The Reading, Pa  Fairgrounds Nationals in August and She was 3rd in The National Race at The Deercreek Speedway in Minnesota.