WLVB Twilight Night: Emily Packard
Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl Race Report
BARRE, Vt. – Emily Packard of East Montpelier, Vt., finished 16th in the WLVB Late Model 50 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Sunday, June 9. Packard fought an ill-handling race car throughout the day, and after dialing in the No. 9x Northstar Fireworks/Berlin Optical Expressions Chevrolet more to her liking, the 16-year-old driver fell victim to the track position game on the tight quarter-mile. One night earlier, Packard finished 13th in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series 35-lap Late Model feature at Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H. Packard, who one week earlier became the first woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned Late Model event at the track, debuted a new chassis and Ford engine package after qualifying 15th for the main event.
WHO: Emily Packard, East Montpelier, Vt.
CREW CHIEF: Neal Woodward, Georgia, Vt.
TEAM: Emily Packard Motorsports No. 9x Northstar Fireworks/Berlin Optical Expressions Chevrolet
SPONSORS: Northstar Fireworks, Fecteau Homes, Berlin Optical Expressions, Yipes! of Barre, VT Shifter Karts, GossCars.com, Be The Match, Rutland Regional Medical Center, R.G. Paving
WHAT: WLVB Late Model 50
WHERE: Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.25-mile oval)
WHEN: Sunday, June 9
STARTED: 19th
FINISHED: 16th
NEXT RACE: June 16, Harvest Equipment 50, Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.25-mile oval)
WHAT: NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model 35
WHERE: Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: Saturday, June 8
STARTED: 15th
FINISHED: 13th
NEXT RACE: June 15, ACT Late Model Tour Canaan 150, Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
********
EMILY, IT SEEMED LIKE YOU NEVER QUITE GOT A HANDLE ON THE CAR AT THUNDER ROAD TODAY.
Yeah, we struggled with the car all day. We went out for the heat race, and we started right behind Nick (Sweet). I followed him up through and got as far as fifth, but I didn’t really have the car to go any further than that.
The car was too loose. Honestly, I was happy just to qualify for the race at that point. The car was really loose up in the high lane, but I couldn’t really go up there. I’m still not really comfortable with driving such a loose car at Thunder Road. If anyone can help me out it would be Nick. In the long run, we were starting to figure it out. We actually did have a pretty good car at the end (of the feature), but we had nowhere to go.
DID YOU JUST GET BIT BY THE TRACK POSITION GAME?
It seemed like there was a lot of two-by-two racing, and you had to wait for spots to open up in front of you – but it seemed to take a lot of laps for that to happen. It was all about racing and racing smart, and unfortunately, we didn’t get what we needed. We raced smart, but nothing worked out in our favor.
Nick told me that you’ve just got to go out and attack the track. That’s something that we have to look at doing more of next weekend.
WAS CANAAN PRETTY FRUSTRATING FOR YOU THIS WEEK AFTER WINNING THE WEEK BEFORE?
I don’t even know what happened, to tell you the truth. Obviously, the car made its debut and we’re still trying to figure out. Neal had worked a lot with our old car even in the past, but now it’s new to all of us with the Ford engine and a whole brand-new chassis. But it’s the whole team that’s kind of learning it – it’s not just a matter of ‘Emily needs to learn this’ or ‘Neal needs to learn that’ about it.
We struggled with it, but it will come with time. It’s not going to happen overnight. I’m happy that we were able to learn some stuff and get a little better at the end of the day.