Emily Packard Ready to Hold Her Turf at Lee Usa Speedway

By Wayne G. Barber
Waterbury, VT – The American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Models will be at the Lee USA Speedway in Lee, NH this coming Sunday, April 26 for the 25^th annual New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150. Eddie “The Outlaw” MacDonald will look to defend his title in the event, but a host of veterans and newcomers alike figure to be up for the challenge.

 

MacDonald has been red hot in the ACT Late Models in recent months. The Rowley, MA driver swept all three 100-lap events at the New Smyrna Speedway in Florida as part of the annual February racing. Combined with his victories in the Vermont Milk Bowl at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road last October and the Fall Brawl 150 at Groveton, NH’s Speedway 51 in November, MacDonald has five straight wins in ACT-type Late Model events.

 

We’ve got a pretty good idea of where we need to be from last year,” MacDonald said. “We’re just going to have to go there and tune on the car and see if we can get it to perform steady throughout the whole race. You never know who’s going to be able to hit it right for that day.”

 

MacDonald, the son of Lee USA Speedway owners Red and Judy MacDonald, grew up racing at the tricky 3/8-mile oval and says that he loves everything about the track.

“We only get to go there a couple times a year now, so I look forward to going,” MacDonald added.” It took us a while to win the Governor’s Cup, and it’d be great to be able to have the car right on and have everything go right so we can try to get another one.”

A full field of challengers is expected to take on MacDonald at his home track. New Hampshire–based Tour Champions Joey Polewarczyk Jr. and Wayne Helliwell Jr. are clear favorites. The duo began the ACT season on Sunday, April 19 by finishing 1-2 in the 150-lap event at Oxford Plains Speedway. Former Governor’s Cup winners Miles Chipman and Jimmy Hebert are out to reclaim the titles they won in 2010 and 2013, respectively, while defending Série ACT Champion Alex Labbe will attempt to bring the Cup across the border to Quebec.

 

A large crop of young and new drivers are also looking to take home the victory, led by East Montpelier, VT’s Emily Packard. The high school senior drove from the 20^th starting position to finish fourth at Oxford. The performance gives Packard the early lead in ACT’s Bond Auto Parts New Champions point standings.

 

Packard was one of five New Champion drivers to finish in the top-10 at Oxford. Auburn, ME’s Travis Stearns finished seventh after running in the top-five for most of the event. Tour sophomore Mike Ziter matched his career best with an eighth-place result. 2014 Claremont Speedway Late Model Champion Rich Dubeau finished ninth in his inaugural ACT Tour event after starting last. And Jonathan Bouvrette made the trip from Blainville, Quebec to finish 10^th and earn valuable New Champions points.

 

Stearns, Ziter, and Dubeau are all expected to be at the NH Governor’s Cup. Joining them will be multi-time Claremont and Canaan Fair Speedway Champion Aaron Fellows, former White Mountain Motorsports Park Champion Travis Fadden, defending Beech Ridge Motor Speedway Pro Series Champion Dave Farrington Jr., former ACT Rookie of the Year Bobby Therrien, Thunder Road Late Model standout Shawn Fleury, and a host of others.

The New Hampshire Governor’s Cup 150 will take the green flag on Sunday, April 26. Post time for the event is 1:00pm. A Test & Tune session will be held on Saturday, April 25, with practice beginning at 12:00pm.

 

For additional information contact the ACT office at 802.244.6963, media@acttour.com, or visit www.acttour.com or www.leeusaspeedway.com.