Jul 16, 2014 | American Canadian Tour, Touring Series News
Emily Packard
Becomes First Female and Youngest Driver to win here
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt – History was made on Friday night, as Emily Packard found her way to victory lane at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, becoming the first female and youngest driver to win a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event in the Late Model division feature race here. Following up her second place finish from the week before, Packard was hungry for her first win of the season, and drove her 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels car with determination to accomplish just that.
“The guys had the car set-up perfectly tonight and I was able to drive it to the front,” said Packard. Packard had started third in her heat race and won, giving her the outside pole for the feature race. When the green fell, Packard wasted no time driving to the lead, and never looked back. Packard dominated, leading all 30 laps of the race, and winning by three quarters of a straight away over the runner up.
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Jul 16, 2014 | American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Photo by Alan Ward
Barre, VT – Barre’s own Nick Sweet won the 35th annual Vermont Governor’s Cup 150 presented by VP Small Engine Fuel in dominant fashion at Thunder Road on Thursday, July 10. Sweet led every step of the way and lapped over half the field in the process. NASCAR star Clint Bowyer spun just after halfway in the 150-lap event and went down a lap late in the race. He finished 14th, the first car down one lap.
Two-time “King of the Road” Sweet earned the pole position with a +3 the unique Plus/Minus handicap system. Derrick O’Donnell started third on the 31 car starting field and kept Sweet insight throughout the event but couldn’t quite get to Sweet as they worked heavy lapped traffic for the majority of the event. It was Sweet’s first win of 2014 and his 12th all-time at Thunder Road.
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Jul 9, 2014 | American Canadian Tour, Touring Series News
Emily Packard
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt – In front of a huge crowd at Devil’s Bowl on Friday July 4th, Emily Packard and the 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuel team unloaded and hit the ground running to continue building on their successful season. The 17 year old East Montpelier native finds herself in a tight point’s battle for the track championship, and was looking to this night to stay in contention.
When the heat race rolled off, Packard was slated to start in the 5th position, but the car starting 3rd chose to drop to the rear of the field, which moved Packard up to the 3rd starting spot. Only a handful of laps into the race, Packard and another car got together coming out of turn three, and Packard spun as a result. She took a quick trip into the pit area, where the guys changed the left front and got her back on the track without losing a lap. Working her way through the field, Packard finished the heat race in second position.
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Jul 9, 2014 | American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Barre, VT – The Lt. Governor of the State of Vermont, Phil Scott from Middlesex, VT, has won more races than any other driver in the history of the ACT Late Model division at Thunder Road, dating back to 1992. For over twenty years he has compiled a winning record that may never be broken.
Ironically, Phil Scott has never won the Vermont Governor’s Cup. He served the State of Vermont as a Senator from Washington County for a decade, and currently is preparing to run for a third term as Lt. Governor.
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Jul 7, 2014 | American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Barre, VT – Shawn Fleury of Middlesex scored his first career Thunder Road Late Model win on Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Fireworks night on Sunday, July 6. Fleury got the advantage on Brett Gervais on the third and final restart on lap 14 of the 50 lap event and built a large lead over the remainder of the race. The three-time Bond Auto Tiger Sportsmen champion, Fleury returned to the Late Model ranks this year piloting the 802Cars.com Toyota Camry out of the Hallstrom Motorsports shop. His win came in just the 7th event of the Thunder Road season.
The pack of Eric Badore, Gervais, Dave Pembroke, Cody Blake and Trampas Demers fought hard for the remaining podium positions over the second half of the event. Pembroke and Demers charged hard in the outside lane and it looked like Pembroke had a shot at second but bounced off the wall with five laps remaining. He saved the car and limped to the finish. Badore had enough to claim second followed by Gervais in third. Blake and Demers completed the top five. Pembroke, Phil Scott, Brooks Clark, Nick Sweet, and Jim Morris rounded out the top ten.
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Jul 2, 2014 | American Canadian Tour, Thunder Road, Touring Series News
Photo by Buzz Fisher
Barre, VT – The 35th running of the Vermont Governor’s Cup 150, presented by VP-Small Engine Fuels (SEF), to be held Thursday, July 10th, at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, VT, will in all likelihood break the 6 race string of consecutive different feature winners to begin the 2014 racing campaign.
Jimmy Hebert, Williamstown, VT is the latest entry for the VT Governor’s Cup. He is currently second in points after the first six events on the American Canadian Tour (ACT) this season. “We have a pretty long time before our next ACT point’s race, (Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, August 9, 2014) and with T-Road just about five minutes from our shop, the guys thought it would be fun to go back to a track that we are pretty familiar with. We usually have pretty good luck with the 150 lap races, and having a chance to race with Clint Bowyer at my home track is pretty cool, “said Hebert.
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