09/17/2025
Hello Race Fans - The official 2025 Thunder Lights race season concluded on September 14th and unfortunately we struggled to get the car running right on our final race of the season and Emily finished in 4th place.
That isn't the most frustrating part of that as after racing all season in what we were under the impression, was a "Real Division" at Hudson Speedway, as opposed to the Hudson Heros Youth Racing Program that Emily was also a part of. The Hudson Heroes was a racing school teaching the basics of racing and how to safely navigate the track, passing, proper race line, etc. and they allowed the kids to participate in a few Sunday events to show the crowd what they had learned and have some fun.
We were under the impression that the Thunder Lights were the next step in the kids racing evolution and they had 7 races on the schedule for the season. After each race, if you logged onto the Hudson Speedway website you could click on POINTS and look at each Race Division Points Race and see where everyone was for the seasonal stats. A few weeks ago, I had a brief conversation with the General Manager, John Esburnett, about how points were calculated because quite honestly they didn't make sense to me. That's when John informed me that there were no points in the kids division, that it was a "Just for Fun, Learning Division".
I'm not here to bash the track or John, but that's not what we were led to believe and quite honestly, I'm a little pi**ed off not just for Emily but for all the kids in the program that are getting the shaft.. Emily busted her ass all season and gave up attending some b-day parties with friends and sleepovers to make sure we didn't miss a race. We busted our asses to get the car repaired when we blew the head gasket and had to fix it for another race the next Sunday.
Anyway regardless of all that...Whether the track wants to recognize it or not, their website shows the final 2025 Thunder Lights Points with Emily edging out Patrick Russell by just 4 points and as far as we're concerned is THE 2025 THUNDER LIGHTS CHAMPION!!!
(admittedly because she didn't miss a race)
We want to thank our sponsors for this year and sincerely hope that they will all return in 2026.
Rebellion Tattoo Company - Merrimac, NH (603) 377-2228
Pawfectly Raw New England - Manchster, NH (603) 854-8124
Cu***ngs Family Fi****ms - Atkinson, NH (603) 974-3015
JP Rivard Container Sales Inc. - Ayer, MA (978) 251-9953
JP Rivard Trailer Sales Inc.
Integrity Towing - Belchertown, MA (413) 436-8066
