Vermont State Championship Series: Emily Packard Vermont Governor’s Cup 150 Race Preview
THE STORY
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – Emily Packard of East Montpelier, Vt., returns to the Vermont State Championship Late Model Series for the third of the four-race series in the Vermont Lottery Commission Governor’s Cup 150 at Thunder Road International Speedbowl in Barre, Vt., on Thursday, July 11. The race – which features the entry of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer – is the longest race of the Vermont State Championship Series contested at both Thunder Road and Devil’s Bowl Speedway. Packard, 16, currently sits fourth in the series standings after finishing a career-best seventh in the People’s United Bank 100 at Devil’s Bowl on June 30. Packard competes weekly at Thunder Road, where she is 16th in the standings in her first full season in Late Model division.
THE FACTS
WHO: Emily Packard, East Montpelier, Vt.
CREW CHIEF: Neal Woodward, Georgia, Vt.
TEAM: 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
BEST CAREER THUNDER ROAD FINISH: 5th (July 2013)
LAST RACE AT THUNDER ROAD: 18th (July 2013)
WHAT: Vermont Lottery Commission Governor’s Cup 150
WHERE: Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre, Vt. (.25-mile oval)
WHEN: Thursday, July 11 – 3 p.m., practice; 6 p.m., qualifying; 8 p.m., race
DID YOU KNOW?
Emily Packard scored her first career Top-10 finish in an ACT Late Model Tour race when she finished 10th in the Spring Green 113 at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in West Haven, Vt., on Sunday, May 5.
Emily Packard became the first woman in a decade to win a feature event at Thunder Road International Speedbowl when she won a Street Stock feature at the track last summer.
Emily Packard was voted the 2012 Vermont Motorsports Magazine Rookie of the Year, and she was also named the Vermont Sportswriters & Sportscasters Association Athlete of the Month for August 2012.
Emily Packard was one of 36 Late Model drivers from across the northeast and Canada invited to participate in the ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sylvania 300 weekend last September.
Emily Packard Motorsports crew chief Neal Woodward is a five-time ACT Late Model Tour champion crew chief whose cars set track qualifying records at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
EMILY PACKARD, Driver of the No. 9x Northstar Fireworks/Berlin Optical Expressions Chevrolet, On competing in her longest race to date at Thunder Road this week: “I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited to have more laps, more time to get used to the track and learn more about it. I think I’ve only done one other 150 up there before (in the ACT Merchants Bank 150 in May), and I like the longer races.
“With more laps, you have more time to get through traffic and work toward the front. I think it will be better on us. We can be a little more patient. We’ve been a victim of double-lane traffic lately – we’re working on that, and I think I’m getting better at it. It’s definitely a different feeling.”
On having Sprint Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer in the race alongside her: “It’s not really any different, at least once we get racing. It’s just another driver out there. It’s a cool, fun, thing for the fans – but as a driver, you have to approach it that way. You can’t worry about who’s out there. You have to worry about running your own race.
“I’ll race him with the same respect he races me, that’s for sure.”
On how tricky Thunder Road can be from week to week: “Definitely with the (traction compound), it’s really heat sensitive now. It’s extra-sensitive. Most tracks, when it’s hot, slimy and sticky, you can tell when it cools off, and this track is severe with that change. Last year, I did full season in the Street Stock, and those things never handle well. You can’t really tell the difference in the track with the changes in temperature – but in the Late Model, you get in your car, you can feel it immediately. That’s probably the biggest thing at Thunder Road.
“Some people go there and are fast right off the bat, and then there are people who struggle and then take right off in the race. The rain has been kicking all of our butts. It definitely messes with the track. If you go there with a good setup (in practice), you’ve got to watch what the weather does and keep making little tweaks, because you won’t necessarily be good in feature. You have to keep making adjustments all day.”
On her goal for the Governor’s Cup 150: “If we could get out of there with a Top-5, that would be really good for us. I’d be really happy with that. We didn’t have a great race with that in the first one (the Memorial Day Classic 100), but we’re halfway through the series in fourth and we’ve already had a bad race. If we come out of this with a decent finish, it puts us in a pretty good spot for the rest of the series.”
UP NEXT
Thunder Road International Speedbowl returns to weekly competition on Thursday, July 18…. Emily Packard will be on the track for the Safelite Auto Glass 50, just three days before she tackles the inaugural ACT International 500 at Airborne Speedway in Sunday, July 21.