Woman in Racing 2016 Report

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Emily Packard Leaves New London/Waterford Speedbowl with 12^th Place Finish

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 12^th position.  "To start 22^nd and to finish 12^th is a gain," Emily said, "and 12^th 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." 

Emily would start 9^th in the first heat but an ill-handling car would keep her from advancing through the field, finishing in 8^th, forcing her to run the consi.  In the consi, she would start from the 4^th starting spot, and would battle to break into the top-3, only to finish in the 4^th position when the race ended.

"In the second to last time going out in practice we had the practice tires on and the car felt awesome," the 19-year old said.  "We came in and changed to race tires and the car just didn't feel the same, so we fought through our heat race and consi to get it back to the good handling car." 

With her finish in the consi, the East Montpelier native would find herself starting in the 22^nd starting position, with only 100 laps to get to the front.  Through the first 35 laps Packard would pick her way through the field, running three wide at one point and not giving up an inch, working her way up to 17^th.  "At the beginning of the race, we kind of were getting the car a little closer to how it had run in practice," said Packard.  "It was definitely a wild race tonight; everyone was pretty much beating and banging out there." 

DRIVERS STANDINGS
1. Eddie MacDonald 520
2. Nick Sweet 509
3. Scott Payea 506
4. WayneHelliwellJr. 473
5. Bobby Therrien 469
6. Dillon Moltz 456
7. Brandon Atkins 434
8. Brad Babb 417
9.RowlandRobinsonJr415
10. Emily Packard 399

At the halfway point, Emily had broken into the top-15, running in 14^th place as the laps continued to wind down.   With just 10 laps to go, Emily was in the 11th looking to advance into the top ten, but would lose another position and cross the line under the checkered flag in the 12^th position.  "As the race wore on the track just got super greasy," Packard said, "and we thought it was going to tighten up, and we just adjusted the wrong way.  I am happy that we improved, I don’t like starting a race in one position and finishing behind it. 

"A huge thank you goes out to the Polewarczyk's, Joe Sr. and Joey Jr., for getting the car ready for this race.  I also have to thank my mom and dad, and everyone that supported me at the track, specifically Nate, Mike, Scott, Kasey, Trevor and Barney.  I especially want to thank my sponsors: Northstar Fireworks, Packard Fuels, Rutland Regional Medical Center, Be The Match, Yipes! of Barre, Fecteau Homes, Vermont Country Campers, Berlin Optical Expressions, Creative Visions and GossCars.com." 

The American Canadian Tour is off until June 4^th, when Emily and the team return to Devil's Bowl Speedway.