Emily Packard
Up Next: Thunder Road Weekly and Riverside ACT 150
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – As Thunder Road is about to kick off its 55th season, Emily Packard and the Packard Motorsports crew are ready for the Thursday night weekly challenge. “This is my home track,” said Packard. “Weekly racing is so different than tour racing; only having 50 laps, there is no tire conservation, you just have to go from the drop of the flag.”
This Thursday night is the first weekly event of the season, but the second point’s race towards the track championship. Coming off the 18th place finish on Memorial Day weekend, Packard knows that she has some ground to make up, but is confident that she can do just that. “I can’t get discouraged. It’s a tough track with a lot of good competition,” said Packard. “I think it’s going to be a very intense weekly battle among competitors to make races.”
Last year Packard finished 11th in the weekly points championship, but has her sights on bettering that this year. “Last season we went into the last race 10th in points, and fell to 11th when the race was over,” Packard said. “This year, we would like to finish solidly in the top 10 in points.” Currently after one race, Packard sits 18th in the weekly Late Model standings at Thunder Road. Racing starts at 6:30 pm Thursday June 5, 2014.
On Saturday, June 7, 2014, Packard and the 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels team head to Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH for the Riverside ACT 150 race. This will mark her return to this track since last season where she had some bad luck and tore her car up. “This is the closest track to Thunder Road that we are going to get,” said Packard. “It’s an interesting place, short yet wide, with two grooves for racing.”
Presently sitting fourth in the ACT points, Packard hopes to continue to run well and stay in the top five in points. “We would like to finish in the top 10, to stay up in the points,” Packard said. “With only six point’s races left, it’s important to finish strong each race.”
Practice kicks off at 3:30 on Saturday, with heats starting at 6 pm. If you can’t make it out to the track, make sure to follow along on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with all the action.
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Emily Packard on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EmilyPackardMotorsports
Emily Packard on Twitter: @EmilyPackard9