Fall Brawl 200: Emily Packard
Riverside Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. – Emily Packard of East Montpelier, Vt., makes her Riverside Speedway debut in Groveton, N.H., with the $10,000-to-win Fall Brawl 200 on Saturday, October 19. Packard has never competed at the tight quarter-mile, but she did test at the track two years ago as she prepared to begin Late Model competition at Thunder Road International Speedbowl. The race is the final event of the year for the Emily Packard Motorsports No. 9x Northstar Fireworks/Berlin Optical Expressions Chevrolet.
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 RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY FINISH: N/A
LAST RACE AT RIVERSIDE SPEEDWAY: N/A
WHAT: Fall Brawl 200
WHERE: Riverside Speedway, Groveton, N.H. (.25-mile)
WHEN: 1 p.m., Saturday, October 19
DID YOU KNOW?
Emily Packard became the first woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned Late Model event at Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H., when she won the Twin 25s event at the track on June 1 of this season.
Emily Packard finished 15th in the 51st annual People’s United Bank Milk Bowl on October 6, her first start in the prestigious event.
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 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 the decision to head to Riverside Speedway this weekend: “It will be good to have another race. We came out of the Milk Bowl in good shape, with the car in one piece and no real damage to it, and we figured, ‘Why not give this one a shot?’
I think the other thing is that I really don’t have a lot of long-race experience. It will be good to get out and run 200 laps and learn some more about the car and how it performs in races like this.”
On her experience testing at Riverside Speedway: “Well, it’s not my favorite track – it’s pretty rough and there are a lot of cracks in it. But I’m looking forward to this weekend. It will be a fun event, and it sounds like there will be a lot of cars there.
“It’s not that far from home, and that was one of the reasons we went there to test originally. I think if you can run well at Riverside, you can be pretty good at a lot of places. There are a lot of flat tracks that we race at every year, and you have to be able to get the car to turn and to save your tires for late in the races.”