photo by RPM 360
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – In the American Canadian Tours final visit to Airborne Park Speedway of the 2015 season, Emily Packard and her Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels team brought home a 13th place finish, closing the gap to just three points out of the 4th position in the championship battle.
Practice saw Emily and the team working on trying to loosen up a tight race car and dialing the car in to her liking for the heat race. “The car was okay during practice,” said Packard. “We weren’t spectacular but we were about the same as we have been in the past few times we have run here at Airborne, with an okay race car.” As they lined up for the heats, the 18-year old started from the 4th position, on the outside. She found herself running as high as second, but was passed late in the heat race to finish fifth, and it was on to the consolation race.
Starting the consolation race from the outside pole, Emily would take the lead for a number of laps, but eventually was passed by Dany Trepanier. Packard’s second place finish in the consi earned her the fifteenth starting position in the Fall Foliage 200. “We lead for a good number of laps,” Packard said, “but I just couldn’t hold him off to win the consi.”
As they strapped in for the 200 lap feature race, Packard knew that they had a decent car starting from the 15th spot. Spending a majority of the race in the in the top 15 Packard found herself fighting an ill handling race car, and drove as hard as she could to stay on the lead lap. “I got really lucky how the cautions fell,” said Emily. “The car was tight in the center, and not handling well at all. The leaders kept catching me, but the cautions would fall at the right time, so I never was passed by the leader to lose a lap.” In the closing laps, Packard was running in the fourteenth position, and hung on to finish in that spot, but would eventually be credited with a thirteenth place finish upon the disqualification of the race winner. “I struggled with the car in the race, fighting a tight car,” said Packard. “Once the race was over and the crew had a chance to look the car over, they discovered that I had a mechanical failure. The control arm was falling off the car.”
Emily’s finish helped her gain some valuable points on the 4th place position in the American Canadian Tour Championship battle. “We had an okay finish, and I am glad that I was able to gain some points on 4th place,” Packard said, “but I would much rather be finishing in the top 10 every week than the top 15. This week’s finish puts us in a decent point’s position going to Thompson for the final race of the season, and I am looking forward to heading to Thompson in two weeks.
“I want to say thank you to crew guys, Neal, Frankie, and Sammy for all their hard work this weekend,” Packard said, “and to my parents for their continued support, it means a lot to me. Also, I have to say thanks to all my sponsors; Northstar Fireworks, Packard Fuels, Rutland Regional Medical Center, Be The Match, Yipes! of Barre, Fecteau Homes, Berlin Optical Expressions, Creative Visions and GossCars.com. I appreciate each and every one of them for their support.”
Up next: Packard and the Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels team head to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park for the final ACT race of the 2015 season as part of the Sunoco World Series of Racing weekend on October 17th