While Emilee Lewis accepts her one week suspension from Bowman Gray for wrecking Zack Staley after the race on Saturday, she does not regret her decisions.
On the last lap of the Street Stock race, Brad Lewis, Emilee’s father, was on the outside of Kyler Staley, son of Zack, coming to the finish line. Zack – who was on the tail end of the lead lap – was slow on the outside line, and Brad made contact with Kyler in an attempt to avoid hitting Zack. Brad won in a photo finish, and into Turn 1 after the checkered flag, Emilee, who finished third, wrecked Zack. Zack got out of his car after the race and ran to Emilee’s car on the frontstretch, jumping on the windshield and trying to tear the hood off.
Zack Staley is suspended for the rest of the year, Kyler Staley is suspended for three weeks, and Emilee Lewis is suspended for one week.
To read Zack and Kyler Staley’s reactions to the incident and their suspensions, read here: https://www.shorttrackscene.com/modifieds/bowman-gray-stadium/zack-kyler-staley-get-suspensions-from-bowman-gray/
To read Brad Lewis’ comments on the incident and still being upset at the Staleys, read here: https://www.shorttrackscene.com/modifieds/bowman-gray-stadium/brad-lewis-still-upset-with-zack-and-kyler-staleys-actions-from-bowman-gray/
Emilee owns up to the contact after the race and believes she probably should not have wrecked Staley, but she does not regret it.
“I’ll own my part,” Emilee said. “I did throttle up. I wrecked him. Should I [have]? Probably not. But in the moment, I think anybody in my position, knowing what [the Staleys] are capable of, would have done the same thing. I’m not going to apologize for what I did. I’m not ashamed of what I did. I’ll take my one week suspension. I understand why I got it.”
Emilee was in third directly behind Brad and Kyle, so she saw all the action unfold at the end of the race.
“I probably had the best seat in the house,” Emilee told Short Track Scene. “The last five laps I saw [Brad] dive to outside of [Kyler] and try to do it right. I hung back a little bit to give [Brad] a gap if he wanted it, but I was still racing.
“[With] maybe two laps to go, my spotter said ‘Hey, [Zack’s] rolling the top slow, just a heads up.’ I came up off [of Turn 4] and saw Zack on the outside and [Brad] in the middle and Kyler on the inside. I saw [Brad] shoot the gap to avoid hitting Zack and shot Kyler across the infield.”
As she crossed the finish line, Emilee was worried Kyler or Zack would try to crash Brad, so she went into protect mode.
“In the past three weeks we’ve seen multiple people go flying across the grass and t-bone somebody in the corner,” Emilee said. “We can all say what we want, but we all know what the Staleys are capable of. You don’t get suspended three seasons in a row for no reason.
“In that moment, I’m in protect mode of my dad. We spend a lot of time and money on these race cars. I looked up and saw [Brad] in between [the Staleys] and I know what they’re capable of. I’m not going to make an excuse for what I did. I think that’s where me and them are different. I’ll tell you exactly what I did and I’ll own up to it. I’m not going to say I ran out of brakes. I’m not going to say it was anybody else’s fault.
“I throttled up and I hit Zack in the rear and I spun him around, because in my mind, he was going to go try to trash my dad[‘s car] because he saw Kyler going across the infield and I wasn’t going to let that happen. I think we beat them at their own game this week and that might be why they’re mad.”
The family beef is not a new occurrence, and Emilee attributes one detail as to the reason behind it all.
“Me and Zack have had issues in the past, and it all stems from one sticker on my windshield: Dylan Ward Racing,” Emilee said. “I think some of [it] comes from jealousy and [Zack] not liking Dylan, and anybody with a DWR sticker has been a target for those people. And that’s fine. I’m not going to switch my setup guy. I have full faith in Dylan and all of them over at DWR. They back me up and I back them up.”
After the checkered flag, the cars were parked on the frontstretch. Kyler got out and was upset at both Brad and Emilee, then Zack came running through the infield to the scene. Zack leapt onto Emilee’s car, drop kicked the windshield, then attempted to rip the hood off. When Emilee saw Zack coming, she was not surprised.
“I wasn’t shocked by anything or the way they acted,” Emilee said. “That’s how they carry themselves. I knew as soon as I hit him he was going to do something. What he was going to do I [didn’t] know. My shouting match with Kyler wasn’t really anything towards Kyler. He just kept saying ‘I have his number now,’ talking about my dad, and I said ‘Okay, then go get it. There’s nothing I can do about it.’
“Zack came running. I saw him running and I knew what he was going to do. I’m not dumb. He drop kicked the windshield and unfortunately for him, he thought he was going to go through it but we wax out windshields every week so he slid and then he fell. I think that pissed him off even more so he tried to rip my hood in half, which isn’t going to work. It’s fiberglass. You’re not just going to rip that in half. I don’t understand their antics and the fist fighting. I never threw a punch.
There’s been people saying I kicked Kyler. I did not kick Kyler. I went to step over him to get my sunglasses off my hood and I tripped if you watch back. I’m not going to kick a man while he’s down. If i wanted to kick him I wouldn’t have kicked him in his big toe. I have more respect for human life than to do something like that. But they’re mad because two weeks ago Kyler came down on my dad and about two laps later another one of their cars did the same thing. They’re just not going to own up to their faults or any of their wrong doings.”
Emilee is proud of how her, her dad and the team acted in victory lane after the race as well.
“I’m not ashamed of anything I [did] or how I carried myself,” Emilee said. “I’m actually very proud of my dad and my team and everybody on how they carried themselves. We weren’t in victory lane screaming, yelling, cussing, shooting middle fingers. We were just out there to celebrate. I can’t say what was going through [the Staley’s] heads. That’s on them. They earned the suspensions they got and I earned mine.”
Emilee also shares her father’s sentiments on social media fueling the drama from Saturday.
“I think Facebook is the worst thing to happen to Bowman Gray,” Emilee said. “I think there’s a lot of keyboard warriors. [There’s] a lot of messaging me, and trying to send me friend requests, and sending me threats, and making comments about my sexuality. What does that have to do with me driving a racecar? Why is that your main target?
“That just shows that they don’t have a life. I appreciate the passion they have for the sport, but I couldn’t imagine being a fan and taking stuff so personally. You don’t spend a dime on these race cars. You don’t work on them. I’m proud of the fan group we have because they have stayed out of the drama.
“I think one thing me and Zack can both agree on is that there are people, whether they’re speaking for my side or his side, they will say all these things but they will never come in person. My thing is, until you get behind the wheel and drive a race car, you should probably keep your mouth shut.”
One of the comments Zack made when he spoke to us was that Emilee wrecked four cars in the race, but Emilee disputes those comments.
“I know there have been multiple people saying that I wrecked four cars, [but] I did not,” Emilee said. “During the race, the only car I wrecked was Brandon Brown, and we had a conversation. We both know where we stand on it. He understands where I came from and I get his side of it and we went our separate ways. I’m not worried about what they have to say or do.”
With Zack being suspended for the season, Kyler being suspended for three races, and Emilee being suspended for one race, the sparks shouldn’t fly between the two families, at least on the track, for a little while. Only time will tell what will happen after the dust settles and they get back on the track.
