E1

Emily Packard

EAST MONTPELIER, Vt – First time out at the Riverside Speedway in Ste-Croix Quebec with the American Canadian Tour, and things did not go how the 17 year old East Montpelier, VT driver had hoped.  Emily Packard and the 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels team spent the three practices working on the handling of the car to make Packard more comfortable getting around the track.  “It was definitely a track that took some getting used to,” said Packard, “and it took me some time adapt to it, but we eventually go the car to my liking.”

 

When the heat races rolled off, Packard started ninth in the third heat, and struggled to gain any ground on her competitors.  When the heat race ended, Packard had moved up to seventh place which meant that she would need to run one of the two consolation races to try to get in the feature.  Starting in fourth in the second consolation race Packard continued to fight her race car and the track, and finished the race in fifth place.

For the 200 lap feature, Packard started in the 26th position on the 33 car field.  The car was handling well, and she was out there running laps and calculating her moves to gain experience and positions on the track.  During a restart on lap 43, Packard felt something wrong with the car and immediately came to pit road.  “When the green came out, I felt the rear of the car sliding around,” Packard said, “so I brought the car in for the guys to take a look at.”  It was determined that the right rear tire had a puncture in it and had gone down as she took the green, causing her to lose eight laps in the pits while the guys attended to the car.

 

As she headed back out onto the track, she knew that she had to finish the race and keep her nose clean.  She used this to gain valuable experience, while staying out of the leaders’ way.  “I didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s night, so I tried to space myself out and watch out for any other cautions,” said Packard.  In the end, her patience and ability to stay out of trouble paid off as she finished the race in the sixteenth position.

Packard now finds herself 5th in points, with just 8 points separating her from second place in the American Canadian Tour and just one points race to go at Airborne Speedway on September 27th.

With the ACT race in the books, it was time to head back to Vermont to run the final weekly race at Devil’s Bowl that had been postponed to Sunday.  The racing consisted of two 25 lap features, and Packard wasted no time moving towards the lead in the first one.  Starting 5th, Packard’s car was handling perfectly.  On the final restart of the race, Packard chose to make a move on the outside, driving by the leader and finishing the race with a commanding lead and taking the checkers for her third win of the season.

In the second future, Packard started tenth and immediately started picking off cars and moving to the front.  On the restart with 6 laps to go, Packard and Fisher raced side by side both of them wanting the win.  With Packard leading laps 21 through 24, she and Fisher raced hard out of turn 4 side by side to the checkers, with Fisher edging her out by inches as they crossed the line.

With the race at Thunder Road being postponed to Sunday as well, Packard and the 9x team weren’t able to race both at once.  “I need to send an enormous thank you to Scott Coburn for running my car at Thunder Road in my absence,” said Packard “He was able to run some laps and help me to keep my handicap at the track.  I appreciate his help this weekend.

“I also have to thank my team; Neal, Frankie, Sammy, and my mom and dad, for the quick turn around this weekend,” said Packard.  “Running in Canada, and then getting back in time to load up the car and get to Devil’s Bowl on Sunday was a huge undertaking but they were awesome.”   “I also want to thank all my sponsors, Northstar Fireworks, Packard Fuels, Be the Match, R.G. Paving, Rutland Regional Medical Center, Fecteau Homes, Yipes! of Barre, Berlin Optical Expressions, and GossCars.com for their continued support this season.”

SOCIAL MEDIA

Emily Packard on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EmilyPackardMotorsports
Emily Packard on Twitter: @EmilyPackard9