19-year-old Emilee Riley has won championships racing down in Georgia. Now, she’s taking up a whole new challenge and hoping to be the first woman to add her name to Greenville-Pickens Speedway’s wall of fame.
Riley, who resides in Jasper, Georgia, is a two-time champion in the Pro Trucks division at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, Georgia. Riley’s Late Model experience is limited. She has run a handful of Pro Late Model races and a couple Late Model Stock Car races. This season, she will be racing for Troy Carnes and CM Driver Development, the same team Kyle Plott had success with last season.
“I haven’t had much experience really because we’ve gone months without racing, so I’m really looking forward to being in a car a lot to gain experience and learn to race, clean hard and good and be consistent,” Riley said. “Consistency has helped a lot to win championships. I’d like to better myself because it takes a lot to get to NASCAR.”
Riley knows she will be in top-notch equipment with Troy Carnes and crew-chief Billy Poindexter. Last season, Plott scored 20 top-five finishes driving for Carnes predominantly at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Easley, South Carolina.
“That’s one thing I’m very excited about,” Riley said about the equipment she will be racing in. “Me and my dad have tried for a while and it’s hard when you haven’t grown up into it. It’s hard to learn it. I’m lucky to be with Troy Carnes and have Billy Poindexter as my Crew-Chief. They’re a great group of people.”
Riley’s season will consist mostly of racing at Greenville and Hickory Motor Speedway while also running races at Anderson Motor Speedway and Myrtle Beach Speedway. As of now, Riley says there haven’t been any discussions about racing at Martinsville or in some of the other late season big races.
“I know Troy wants to take it step by step and not have too high a goal off the bat. We just want to run smooth, consistent and clean and finish and then get some wins under our belt and go from there but we hope to get to that point.”
Riley hopes that a strong season will propel her racing career so she can race in the ranks of the NASCAR major leagues in a few years. She’s taking her first step next weekend when the season starts at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.
