photo by RPM 360
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – After a week off, Emily Packard and her 9xME Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels team is ready to take on the 5/8 mile asphalt Circuit Riverside Speedway in Ste. Croix, QC. This will be the American Canadian Tour sophomore driver’s second time racing at the speedway and is the second of four combination races with the Série ACT. “I enjoyed running here last year,” Packard said. “It’s a unique track with different elevation, so when you come out of four, you can’t really see the middle of the front stretch. It’s a fun and fast race track, and I look forward to our return there.”
In last year’s event the 18 year old East Montpelier driver suffered a flat tire early into the race, and had to pit to change it and repair some damage to the car. This cause her to go several laps down, but she got back out there and picked off as many cars as she could salvaging a 16th place finish. “Last year was a pretty strange experience,” said Packard, “we had a flat tire about 40 laps into the race and had to pit to change it. I went back out and tried to finish the race in the best position that I could. Being down a few laps, I stayed out of trouble and learned a few things about running the track that I hopefully can use this race.”
After a rough race at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Packard and the team spent the last two weeks repairing the car for this upcoming race. “In the last race, the control arm was bent during the consi race wreck,” Packard said. “I wasn’t overly happy with the car during the race, but it was a quick car. We have spent the last couple of weeks re-building the car getting it ready for this weekend.”
This week’s action starts as the first ACT practice is scheduled for 1:55pm, with heats slated to begin at 6 pm. “This week we are looking for a solid run so that we can try to re-gain some of the points that we have given up in the last couple races,” said Packard. Packard heads into the 10th race of the 13 race schedule 6th in ACT points, 25 points out of 5th place in the championship standings.
Be sure to follow along on social media if you can’t make it out to the track this weekend, as we will be posting updates throughout race day.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Emily Packard on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EmilyPackardMotorsports
Emily Packard on Twitter: @EmilyPackard9