sdgsdgssEAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – Heading into the last American Canadian Tour race of the season at Airborne
Speedway, Emily Packard, the 17 year old East Montpelier native was fifth in the points just 8 points out of the runner up position in the championship battle and knew that she was going to have to avoid trouble at all cost to gain valuable points.

When the 9x Northstar Fireworks/Packard Fuels car took to the track for the first practice of the day, the car was set up to Packard’s liking and she ended the practice 9th fastest. “This was definitely the fastest car we have ever had at Airborne,” Packard said. “We started off pretty solid in practice and knew we would have a good car for the feature.” The team continued to work on the car the last two practices, trying to dial the car in a little bit more before the heat race. Starting 5th in the fourth heat, Packard was able to move herself up to the 3rd position quickly where she would finish when the checkered flag flew, which meant she was safely in the feature.

When the green flag finally fell on the feature Packard wasted no time moving to the outside lane from her 9th place starting position and she started making her way forward. On lap 25 Packard was running in the 8th position, and continued her move forward to 6th place by lap 40. She remained in 6th battling for 5th when the car started to go away around lap 67. “We started off the first quarter of the race really consistent and strong, and then around lap 67 the handling on the car went away and we started dropping back,” said Packard.

Packard would eventually find herself a lap down just 5 laps before the competition caution flew at lap 120. “We knew there was something wrong with the car but we were just tried to hold on until the competition caution, and when we got that we came in for fuel,” Packard said. “We went back around and came back in and there was only 5 pounds of air in the tire, so we changed the tire and made a couple adjustments and got back out there. While evaluating the tire, Sammy was able to determine the problem with the tire, a valve stem issue.”

With encouragement from her crew chief, Neal Woodward, Packard settled back in and picked off as many
cars for position as she could before the checkers fell. She finished the race in 15th position, the first car one lap down. This was enough to move her to fourth place in the championship standings.
“This was a really great, breakthrough season for us,” said Packard. “I want to thank my parents for helping me to pursue my dreams. I would like to give a big thank my Crew Chief Neal and my crew members Frankie and Sammy for coming to the track each week even as crazy the schedule was this year. I’d also like to thank the rest of the crew that helps in the shop each week and gets to the track when they can; Darren, Hunter, Randy, Jeremy, Jack and Stacy too. I also want to say thank you to my fans for supporting me and following me all season long, whether at the race track or following along on social media, it means a lot to me.”

“Lastly I want to send out a huge thank you to all my sponsors for their continued support this entire season, we couldn’t do it without them – Northstar Fireworks, Packard Fuels, Be the Match, R.G. Paving, Rutland Regional Medical Center, Fecteau Homes, Yipes! of Barre, Berlin Optical Expressions, Vermont Shifter Karts and GossCars.com. Thank you to each and every one of you for all your support, it was greatly appreciated and we look forward to an even bigger and stronger 2015 season!”