EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – After missing the last two American Canadian Tour races, Emily Packard and the 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels team are set to return this weekend to Oxford Plains Speedway for the ACT 100. “I am very excited to go back to Oxford this weekend,” said the 19 year old racer. “I really like the track, and we have had some really decent finishes there, so I am looking forward to this weekend, hopefully there will be a good turnout of cars.” This weekend the American Canadian Tour revisits Oxford Plains Speedway as part of the 43rd HP Hood Oxford 250 weekend, with their 100 lap feature race on Saturday night.
“We tested there last week, and it felt pretty good,” said Emily. “We haven’t been there since April, so obviously the track is completely different now than it was back then, but I feel pretty good about our test and that we will have a decent car this weekend.” In the spring race this season at OPS, Packard restarted in seventh place, finding herself stuck behind lapped cars on what would be the final restart of the race. Losing several positions in the closing laps she would eventually crossing the line in 13the place. “We had a really good car and should have had a better finish,” said Packard, “we just got stuck in the wrong line on that restart.” The East Montpelier native is hoping to better that finish this weekend and build some momentum to take through the remainder of the season. “The last couple of races have been really hard races,” Packard said, “so I really want to go and have a good run. The last race at Seekonk was awful, the car just wouldn’t respond to any adjustments that were made, so the test was really important to getting the car set up for this race.”
NAPLES, ME (August 23) – Since the inaugural HP Hood Oxford 250 in 1974, Oxford Plains Speedway’s location has helped insure that the “best of the best” in short track racing would have a chance to take on one another. Being in Maine, the HP Hood Oxford 250 has seen the top short trackers from New England, the Midwest, and Canada participate against one another over the last 40 years. But since it’s earliest days, the HP Hood Oxford 250 has been a showcase for talent from the Southeastern short track ranks. South Carolina’s legendary Butch Lindley took the checkered flag in 1976, while North Carolina’s Bob Pressley would take the win two years later, followed by Virginia’s Tommy Ellis in 1983. Drivers like Harry Gant, Morgan Shepherd, Tommy Houston, Jimmy Hensley and others made regular stops at the 250 throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
The tradition continues today as another strong contingent of drivers and teams will be making the trip up from Dixie. Defending Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model champion, Tate Fogleman, from Durham, NC will be attempting his fourth straight HP Hood Oxford 250 this weekend. Fogleman hopes to better the performance of his dad, Jay, who finished third in 2013.
New Hampshire native is looking to continue building confidence with solid Oxford 250 finish
(Oxford Plains, ME) – Derek Griffith and the No. 12 Provencher Insurance/Hitman Industries racing team will roll into Oxford Plains Speedway for the Hudson, New Hampshire natives second attempt in the prestigious 250-lap Super Late Model event.
The 43rd annual H.P. Hood Oxford 250 is considered by many to be one of the biggest short track racing events in the United States and Griffith, along with over fifty other drivers will be fighting for 40 starting spots in the event that commands a minimum $25,000 winner’s share.
Derek is entering this year’s event with much more experience and success competing with the Pro All Stars Series (PASS). Griffith who recently visited victory lane with the series by capturing the 150-lap event at Lee USA Speedway see’s the 2016 attempt in a much different light than last year, he explains; “In 2015 we really didn’t have much experience at Oxford Plains Speedway, it’s a tricky 3/8th mile oval that really only laps and seat-time can help.
Lee, NH – The New England Pro-4 Modifieds were the added attraction at Lee USA Speedway on Friday night, making for another full night of racing action at “New Hampshire’s Center of Speed”, along with the weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action.
Robin Berghman, acknowledged as the country’s first female driver to claim a touring series championship, once again rose to the top, outrunning the field to take down the win. Berghman is the daughter-in-law of the legendary Bugsy Stevens, a longtime standout on the NASCAR Modified tour back in the in the 1960’s and ‘70‘s.
Family traditions carried on for the rest of the podium finishers, as second-generation racer Norm Wren III claimed second place honors, with third-generation racer Brett Meservey taking home third place honors.
Wrenn’s father Norm was a standout Pro Stock racer at Lee for years, claiming the biggest win of his career in the Lee USA Downeast Drilling Pro Stock Nationals, while Brett’s grandfather Dan, Sr. first found his way to victory lane on the old Tri-Oval Lee Raceway back in the mid-1970’s in NEMMA (the predecessor to today‘s Pro-4‘s) action.
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – After missing the last two American Canadian Tour races, Emily Packard and the 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels team are set to return this weekend to Oxford Plains Speedway for the ACT 100. “I am very excited to go back to Oxford this weekend,” said the 19 year old racer. “I really like the track, and we have had some really decent finishes there, so I am looking forward to this weekend, hopefully there will be a good turnout of cars.” This weekend the American Canadian Tour revisits Oxford Plains Speedway as part of the 43rd HP Hood Oxford 250 weekend, with their 100 lap feature race on Saturday night.
