Aug 29, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, Maine Race Tracks, More Maine Racing News, Oxford Plains Speedway
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – Frustrated with contact from a lapped car late in the race and being sent to the rear of the pack for the restart, Emily Packard was able to channel that frustration and drive her 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels car back up through the field to finish in eighth place at Oxford Plains Speedway this weekend. “We were just clearing a pack (of cars) and headed for the leaders,” said the 19-year old driver, “when a lapped car just drove right through us and spun us out. Unfortunately, ACT didn’t punish see the need to punish him, but instead I was sent to the back for the restart. Luckily there were enough laps for me to recover and get a top-10 finish.”
Earlier in the day, Packard and the team spent the morning preparing the car for practice, reviewing notes from their test and changing the car back from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway test. It was obvious when she hit the track for the first practice that the team had made all the right changes as Packard was the 6th fastest car on the track. “We were ok during practice, pretty quick actually” said Packard. “We ran some very consistent laps, within a tenth of each other every lap, whereas other guys were going out and running a fast lap and then would drop right off.” Packard would continue to get faster each practice, with her fastest lap in final practice when she went out to scuff in new tires.
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Aug 29, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, Maine Race Tracks, More Maine Racing News, NE Racing News, Oxford Plains Speedway, Touring Series News
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.”
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Jul 15, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, Maine Racing News, More Maine Racing News, NE Racing News, Touring Series News
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – After missing the Speedway 51 race to attend a family member’s graduation, Emily Packard is anxious to get back into her Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels sponsored race car at Seekonk Speedway. “I can’t wait to get back in the car,” said the 19-year old. “I have missed being in the car, and I am really looking forward to going to Seekonk for the second race of the Southern New England Triple-Header.” Earlier this year ACT announced the addition of the Southern New England Triple-header, where local drivers from those three tracks can showcase their talent against the ACT tour regulars. The first race was held at the New London/Waterford Speedbowl, where Packard brought home a twelfth place finish. The final round will be run at Thompson Speedway, the last race of the American Canadian Tour season. A separate point fund has been set-up and at the conclusion of the race at Thompson, someone will be crowned the Triple-header Champion.
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May 25, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, More Maine Racing News
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – Emily Packard finally got to return to a track that she loves to race at, running the American Canadian Tour 100 at the New London/Waterford Speedbowl this past weekend. She was able to make her way through the field to bring her Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels sponsored car home in the 12th position. “To start 22nd and to finish 12th is a gain,” Emily said, “and 12th is not really where I would like to be, but since this is our first time coming to New London/Waterford in a late model, but I would say we had a pretty good day.”
Having past experience driving her Allison Legacy car at the 1/3 mile track, Packard had high hopes going into practice that the team would have her car handling pretty good for her quickly, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. She and the team worked for most of the first practice getting the car up off the track and getting the car to drive off the corners. “We struggled a little bit in the first practice getting the car off the track,” said Packard. “By the time we got to the second practice we finally got it off, so that it wasn’t hitting. Once we did that we were able to adjust to get speed.”
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May 20, 2016 | American Canadian Tour, More Maine Racing News
for Race #1 of the Southern New England Triple-header
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – Emily Packard is no stranger to the New London/Waterford Speedbowl, having raced her Allison Legacy cars there early on in her racing career and even has a win there. This weekend the 19-year old driver is set to wheel her 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels car around the 1/3 mile oval for the first race in the American Canadian Tour Southern New England Triple-header. “It’s been four or five years since I last raced at Waterford,” said Emily. “It’s one of my favorite tracks, and I have always wanted to go there in a late model and now we get the opportunity, so I am really excited.”
Earlier this year ACT announced the addition of the Southern New England Triple-header, which also includes races at Seekonk Speedway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, so the local drivers from those three tracks can showcase their talent against the ACT tour regulars. A separate point fund has been set-up and at the conclusion of the race at Thompson, someone will be crowned the Triple-header Champion. The East Montpelier native and her team are planning to run all three races and chase that championship starting this weekend.
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