emily mugTop Ten for Packard at Ste-Croix, QC’s Circuit Riverside Speedway

EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – Determined to gain back some of the points lost in the previous race due to a late race incident, Packard in her 9xME Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels car drove a clean and well calculated race to bring home a much-deserved 9th place finish.

Making only her second visit to the 5/8 mile oval in Ste-Croix, the East Montpelier native had a decent car in practice, with the team making numerous changes throughout to dial the car in to the 18-year olds liking. “We had a decent car throughout practice,” said Packard. “We spent most of practice trying to figure out the track just because it is so different from anywhere else. We weren’t super-fast, but the car was pretty good. When we put on new tires in final practice, the pace picked up some and we knew we would have a good car for the heat.”

Drawing the 8th starting position in the third and final heat, Packard had only 12 laps to gain at least two spots to qualify into the feature race. Packard set out early to pick her way up towards the front, quickly dropping down to the bottom of the track to gain some spots. When the checkered flag waved, Packard had driven her way to the 6th position and was safely in the CAN-AM 150 lap feature. “I got chopped a couple times during the heat, but I was still able to qualify for the feature,” Packard said. “Getting in through the heat gave me the opportunity to watch the consi’s and see where people were running and get some insight for the feature.”

Making a couple changes to the car after the heat race, Packard lined up on the inside in the 13th starting position for the start of race, and settled in to see how the changes affected the car. At lap 50, Packard had moved up to the 12th position, continually working each car to set them up and get around them. Choosing to pit under caution at lap 51, Packard gave up her spot to come in and get gas and two right side tires, going back out in the 17th position. “Our initial calculations showed that we were going to need to pit for fuel at some point during the race,” said Packard. “We figured that we would come in under the caution at lap 51, since we weren’t going to lose that many spots, it was the right time to pit. Unfortunately, there was a mishap while gassing the car when we pitted, so we had to re-pit for fuel when the caution came out a few laps later to get 5 gallons of gas.”

Packard continued to calculate her moves, and picked her way back up towards the front, and by halfway, she had cracked the top 10. When the leaders pitted around the 100 lap mark, Packard was in 9th place but was able to gain a couple spots under the restart. At lap 110 Packard had driven up into the top-5 racing in the 5th spot, using the outside groove to set up cars and make her move around them.

With 25 laps to go Packard was in the 6th position, and was being pressured from behind by cars with fresher tires, but continued to hold her ground. When the caution came out with 10 to go, she had fallen back to 10th, but was not giving up and when the checkers fell; Emily would cross the line in 9th position. “With 50 laps to go, I started trying something new and found that the car was really fast on the outside,” Packard said. “Towards the end of the race, I would run low through 3 and 4 and then get a run on the outside through 1 and 2 where I would gain positions and make my moves on cars in front of me. It worked really well for me, well, until the cars with the newer tiers caught me with 25 to go in the race.”

“I am really happy with my finish,” said Packard. “It’s pretty cool to be racing against the best American Canadian Tour racers from both Canada and the United States. To finish 4th (9th overall) out of the American drivers that were there is awesome. It’s redemption of sorts from last year’s early flat tire and finishing laps down to this year finishing on the lead lap and with a top-10 finish. It was a great run and I am looking forward to running at Autodrome Chaudiere in a few weeks.

“I would like to take the time to thank my team, Neal, Frankie, Randy and Sammy, as well as my mom and dad for all the help and support this weekend,” Packard said. “I couldn’t do any of this without my sponsors, so a huge thank you goes out to Northstar Fireworks, Packard Fuels, Rutland Regional Medical Center, Be The Match, Vermont Country Campers, Yipes! of Barre, Creative Visions, GossCars.com Fecteau Homes, and Berlin Optical Expressions,.”

Packard and the team head back to Canada on September 12th to Vallée-Jct., QC’s Autodrome Chaudiere, for twin 200 lap features for ACT and the PASS series.