Packer Carroll

Jared Lyle Carroll (born April 6, 1985 in Chillicothe, Ohio), better known as Packer Carroll, is an American race car driver, team owner, and businessman, and is considered one of the most popular drivers in the sport today, having won ARLA's Most Popular Driver award in 2009. He owns his own team, Gravity Racing, Inc., in the ARLA Elite Series, CRL Modified Division, Hanmore Formula Overdrive Series and the TM Lights, and is one of the main drivers for the Volpi Racing Team in the TM Master Cup Series, going full time with VRT in 2012, driving the #2 MaiaSoft Volpi VC04. He was given the nickname the "Emerald Warrior" by his ever-growing fanbase, due to his green hair and his ability to fight through the adversity that has plagued him since he first joined ARLA in 2009.

Bio
Packer Carroll was born on April 6, 1985, in Chillicothe, OH. He began watching racing on TV from an early age. At the age of 10, he got his first go-kart, and showed he had some impressive driving ability for someone his age, and considered a career in racing.

At the age of 14, he moved up to local short track racing when his family moved to Columbus, Ohio. He raced regularly in the Crazy Compact division at Columbus Motor Speedway, Kil-Kare Raceway, and Ohio Motor Speedway. In 1999, he won the Crazy Compact track championship at all three venues in the same season. In 2000, at the age of 15, he moved up to the late model division and won the CMS track championship.

After the 2000 season, he decided to take his racing talents to more fertile ground, so Packer headed west to California.

RUSH Extreme Racing Championship Series
In 2001, at 16 years of age, Packer entered the RUSH Extreme Racing Championship Series in San Francisco, competed with regular cars modified and reinforced with roll bars and racing seats. Different than any other series, RUSH held two seasons per year. Packer first entered in the 2001 first half season and immediately made an impact. Driving for Turbo Motorsports, he won six of his first thirteen starts to clinch his first RUSH championship. 2001 season 2 started off even better for Packer. He won 9 of the first 13 races, then went through a five race slump off the podium before winning four of the last six races, easily winning his 2nd championship by 62 points on the strength of 13 race wins. In total, he had 23 wins.

It was during this time that Packer met his future team co-founder and crew chief, San Francisco native Rush McCloud, at the final race of the 2001 season. The two became fast friends, and after some deliberation, decided to form their own team the very next season.

Packer formed Gravity Racing, Incorporated in 2002, and continued to run them in lower-tier local series before making the transition to modified racing in 2006 with a massive sponsorship bill. After the 2008 season, Carroll took GRI to the ARLA Elite Series for his rookie campaign.

2009 Season, Humble Beginnings
"Alexis Rainsford's reverse burnout kind of inspired me to come up with a unique burnout of my own when I got my first win, and that's when I came up with the idea of riding on my door while doing burnouts. The fans got a kick out of it, that's for sure. I call it the "Bronco Buster"."

- Packer Carroll after winning the TirADE 100 at Boston.

In 2009, with high-profile sponsor Shiny Wax and French manufacturer Gasnier, Packer would make his ARLA Elite Series debut in the first Rookie Shootout at Daytona, a special dash for cash just for rookies that will help them get their feet wet. For the winner would be a guaranteed spot in the 2009 Smash Beer 100, the season opening event. Due to a random draw, Packer would start 19th in the 25 car field. Packer would begin making his way to the front early on, but on Lap 4, while running in the top 10, he was hooked coming off of turn 4 by TM Master Cup Series driver Marcos Leonard, but somehow managed to save the car. He dropped to the back of the field, probably to catch his breath. His luck ran out on Lap 14, when in turn 3, the cars of Phineas Marshal and Lucas Sweeney came together, and 13 cars were involved in the big wreck, including Carroll's #71 which actually flipped over. He climbed out of the car okay, but his race was over. His trip to Daytona got even more sour when he failed to qualify for the Smash Beer 100. The next race at Pikes Peak, the LendMaster 100, was where he would make his official ARLA Elite Series debut, finishing in 7th place. However, Packer struggled through the first half of the 24 race season, making just 5 of the first 12 races. As a result, Shiny Wax stated that they would end their sponsorship of the #71 team after Watkins Glen. Fortunately, another sponsor, Grape Soup, stepped up to become the #71's primary sponsor. The newly designed purple car that Packer now drives would become one of the most recognizable cars in the field.

Packer would also seem to become specialized in qualifying races. He won his first Q-Race at Grand Detour of Southern Illinois, and ended up finishing in fifth in the main race after leading 14 laps. His next Q-Race win was on the road course in Vancouver, dominating by leading all ten laps, then finished 9th in the main race despite being spun out. Then he won his third Q-Race at the Milwaukee Mile, but didn't have as good a main race, finishing 25th.

Birth of the Bronco Buster Burnout
Packer's major breakthrough came in the 18th race of the season, the TirADE 100 in Boston. After starting in 13th, Packer patiently bided his time, waiting for the perfect moment to make his move. He had to dodge a few obstacles during the day, moments that could've kept him from the promised land. On Lap 16, Dale Underwood would hit Laura Cyrus coming off of turn four that sent Cyrus into the #76 car, driven by Jerry Richson. Packer, who was running right behind the group, made the move to the inside and missed a hard wreck by inches. A good thing, considering that the two-car wreck quickly turned into a massive pile-up when the rest of the field arrived. He also had to dodge some slower lapped cars as well. Jeb Klinger and Nokamaru Tsukari were all running slow due to being involved in the massive wreck on Lap 16. They would hold up a few of the leaders, but Packer smoothly passed all of them without much problem. Another incident that Packer had to dodge occured on Lap 60, when the lapped car of Nokamaru Tsukari drove right up in front of the leader, which was DJ Daniels, taking both cars into the wall. By once again opting to go low, Packer missed yet another huge wreck.

Packer restarted in 5th with 12 laps to go. He had one more obstacle, the #22 car of Vinnie Enzo, who held up Kodi Richards. Packer managed to get around him with no problem. That left just Brenda Riggs between Packer and his first career win. However, he didn't want a repeat of earlier this year. At Pikes Peak, Packer and Riggs were fighting for position when Riggs came down on Packer and was spun into the outside wall, taking her and several others out of the race. But Packer kept calm, cool, and collected, and certainly earned a lot of respect by making the pass on Riggs cleanly with three laps remaining. He would hold off the challenges of Jared Andersen and Riggs the rest of the way, and took his first career ARLA Elite Series victory, which continued a record-breaking streak of first-time winners in the ARLA Elite Series that season, which was now at 8.

Then, after taking a victory lap, a comical event occured. Packer started to climb out of the car, but instead of getting out, he sat on the door, halfway in and halfway out. Then, with the checkered flag in his left hand, he started doing victory burnouts at the start/finish line, and all you could hear was the roar of the crowd. In victory lane, he dubbed his victory celebration the Bronco Buster Burnout.

He would add one more Q-Race win, at Lake Afton. He made the final four races of the season, and wound up finishing 31st in the points standings, with a win, 3 top 5 finishes, and 6 top 10 finishes in 14 total starts, with a mind-boggling 4 Q-Race wins. His exploits earned him Q-Race Driver of the Year, and he was voted Most Popular Driver by the ARLA fans.

Packer also made two starts in the TM Master Cup Series in 2009, driving his own car, which was sponsored by Fallout 3. He made his TMMC debut at the Round of Australia, but fell out after colliding with Damien Snyder midway through the race. His second start came in the season finale, the Decatur Grand Prix. After winning the Q-Race, he managed to avoid all the carnage that had befallen most of his competitors, and finished in 15th, not bad for a driver in just his second career TMMC start in his own car. He was offered a part-time ride with Majestic Motorsports to drive the #71 Diet Delano Gasnier, which he accepted.

2010 Season, Mr. Reliability
Before the 2010 ARLA Elite Series season began, Packer sold his Thunder Trucks program to make room for a Street Stocks team, and a CRL Modified Division team. In addition, due to the new manufacturer rules in place in ARLA, Gasnier was now exclusive to GRI, which enabled Packer to expand his team to three cars. In ARLA tryouts midway through 2009, he discovered Henrietta LaVerne, a Canadian female driver, and Sara Hackson, who at 6 feet 7 inches, would become the tallest driver in the field. In addition, Packer was signed to drive the #110 Michelin Gasnier for Greg Whittaker Racing in the TM Junior Series. It was gonna be a busy season for Packer. It also helped that due to some of the teams in front of him dissolving or dropping down to the ARLA Thunder Trucks, Packer's #71 team was one of the 22 cars locked into Daytona.

The 2010 Daytona 200 saw Packer starting in 34th position, but made his way to the front due to the drafting that happens at Daytona, and would actually lead a lap during the race. However, midway through the race, he was slightly involved in the crash that injured Leslie Riggs, but stayed on the lead lap and salvaged a 23rd place finish. Despite some incidents at Iowa, Packer finished 9th, and jumped to 11th in the points standings. The next race, the Hattiesburg 125, showed just how durable his #71 Gasnier really was. On Lap 17, the #17 car of Joseph Howard drifts into the wall in turn 3. Coming to the start/finish line, Howard for some reason drifts down into the path of Packer's car. Packer tried to go low, but couldn't as there was another car on his inside. As a result, Packer swerves high to avoid Howard, clips the #17 car and slams the wall. Worse, another car hits his in the rear and triggers a massive pile-up on the front stretch. Despite significant damage to his car, Packer was still competitive and salvaged a 14th place finish, which propelled him up to 9th in the points standings, the first time he had cracked the top ten in the Elite Series.

His next two races, however, at New Hampshire and Memphis, saw him DNF both events due to crashes. He bounced back by finishing in the top 20 at Talladega, but was met with disappointment when he finished 26th at Mansfield, his home track. More trouble struck at Texas, when the #71's engine unexpectedly failed on Lap 51, resulting in a 32nd place finish, and he was now 20th in the points standings. Little did he know that Texas would be his last DNF of the season.

As his team was preparing for Albuquerque, a shocking announcement rocked GRI. Sara Hackson, the driver of his #3 Smudge Erasers Gasnier, was involved in legal trouble and had to end her involvement with the team. Stunned, Packer appointed Regina McCloud, Rush's wife to drive the #3 car at Albuquerque, but she was involved in a crash on Lap 2. Packer finished 14th.

At Tampa Bay, the midway point of the season, Carroll hired former TMMC driver Eric Jackson to drive the #3 car for the remainder of the season, and nearly won the race until contact with Jason Bates late in the race. Carroll finished in 6th place, his second top 10 of the season, and was very critical of Bates after the race. His 12th place finish at Dwyer put him back into the top 10 in points. His good runs continued at Grand Detour when he finished 3rd, his best finish of the season, and he was now 7th in the standings. He finished 15th at Buffalo Downs, then finished 3 laps down at Watkins Glen in the rain, but still managed to finish 19th, and moved into the top 5 in points for the first time. Packer struggled at the next race at Mosport, finishing 24th, but bounced back at Blue Ridge with an 8th place finish, and a 10th place finish at Appleton, keeping him firmly entrenched in 5th in the points.

The next race was at Decatur Championship Weekend, the semi-final event for the Elite Series. The b 34 Decatur saw Packer finish in 20th, moving him up to 4th, but his shot at the championship was over. The 2010 Rockford 200 saw Packer finish in 13th, but due to Kevin Monroe crashing out early on, enabled him to finish 4th in the final standings. He was still able to go to victory lane, however. His crew chief and business partner, Rush McCloud, pulled one of the biggest upsets in ARLA history when he won the Rockford 200, leading the final 7 laps of the race after passing Amy Harrison for the lead.

His TM Junior Series campaign saw him finish in the top 5 six times with 8 top 10 finishes. He also earned his first TM podium, a 2nd at the season finale at Decatur. He finished 5th in the final standings, giving him two top 5 points finishes in the same season. Packer also made a killing at the awards banquet. His team won the Soda World Team of the Year, Eric Jackson won the Roberto Moreno award, given to the substitute driver of the year, and Packer won the Competitive Spirit award, given to the driver who completed the most laps in the season, and the LendMaster Comeback Driver of the Year award, for jumping from 31st in the standings in 2009 to 4th in 2010.

His TMMC ventures were not as successful. He only qualified for two races, and finished outside the top 25 in both of them.

In addition, he reformed his Thunder Trucks team after selling his Street Stocks team, and hired Zach Gott to drive in 2011.

Teaming With Volpi and Alexis Rainsford
Midway through the 2010 season, the owner of the Volpi Racing Team, Cyril Volpi, expressed interest in joining forces with an ARLA team to create a developmental program for his TM Master Cup Series team, considering his make of car didn't have much of an influence outside of the TM series. One of the teams he expressed interest in was Gravity Racing, Inc.

During the week of the TM Master Cup Series's annual visit to Grand Detour, Volpi, Alexis Rainsford, Carroll, and Rush had a series of meetings at Gravity's race shop in Columbus, Ohio to discuss how their partnership would work. Volpi would provide manufacturer support for Packer's ARLA team, which would allow him to expand to four cars in 2011. He had signed Eric Jackson to the #3 car through 2012, and would also sign ARLA Street Stocks driver Bruce Wilkinson to drive the new #7 car, and ARLA regular Anthony Griffith to replace LaVerne in the #00. In addition, Volpi would give support for a two-car TM Lights team and a two-car ARLA Formula Overdrive team. Packer and Wilkinson would be the pilots of the Lights cars, and Packer would sign Regina and Brazilian Ronaldo Ventura to drive the FO cars. Also, Volpi signed Packer as the main reserve driver for the Volpi Racing Team, and with Rainsford scheduled to run the Indy 500 in 2011, Packer would be tasked to drive her car for the race she misses and others if Rainsford decides to run more races in the V8 Champ Car Series. In return, Rainsford requested to run the #27 Volpi at the 120 Laps of Dwyer endurance race, which would be under the GRI banner, and possibly more races at Rainsford's discretion. Of course, Packer would've been an idiot not to accept Volpi's offer, and after working all the details out, the two shook hands, and a new partnership between Volpi and GRI was born.

Carroll also considered it an honor to be driving Rainsford's car next year. He had tremendous respect for her driving abilities, not just as a female driver, but as a driver, period. He has also stated that he has a crush on Alexis, although he is well aware and respects her relationship with TM Lights driver Chris Davenport.

2011 Season, A Season of Injuries and Adversity
Packer's 2011 season started at the TM Lights North opener at Las Vegas, where he led nine laps and earned his first TM Lights podium when he finished third. The first race of the season for the ARLA Elite Series at Texas was the first event to run a twin-race format. Packer was in race 1. On Lap 42 after a restart, Packer managed to get under the #66 of Edwin Schwarzloski for the lead.

He led two laps before falling back due to a bad push on the car. He finished in 14th. The next race was held in the rain at St. Petersburg, and disaster struck. Midway through, he spun out avoiding a wreck and crashed into the tire barriers. Ricky Flush also spun out and slammed into the back of the #71. Packer was still holding onto the steering wheel, as he was preparing to try to back up and continue racing. When the #31 car hit him, it jerked the steering wheel sharply to the right.

This resulted in a broken right wrist for Carroll, but after being outfitted with a brace and a cast, was cleared to race the next week at Talladega. Packer led 4 laps at Talladega, but finished 35th after being involved in the big one with 15 laps to go. At the 2011 Las Vegas Deuce, Packer had made it up to as high as third place before being forced into a three-wide situation in the closing laps. He drifted high in one and two and scraped the wall. He lost several spots and seemed to have it under control, until he lost control entering turn three, coming down into his teammate Eric Jackson, and taking both cars into the wall. Scraping the wall where all the marbles and trash were had cut down a left rear tire, which caused the car to suddenly veer toward the inside entering the corner. A disappointed Carroll still managed to finish 16th, but a top 5 went down the drain late in the race, while his teammate Jackson finished 24th.

The next race was the first on the Canadian tour, the Xenos Alberta Duels. In the closing stages of the race, Packer found himself in contention. Coming to the white flag, he was in third behind Allie Riggs and Mumba Kumangu. When Riggs made the move on Kumangu down the backstretch, Packer stayed behind Kumangu until turn 3 so that he could get a better entrance into the corner. The move paid off as he got underneath Kumangu in three, and coming off of four, he was now underneath Riggs coming to the checkered flag. It was a drag race between the two, and at the line, Riggs barely squeaked out the win. Carroll was 2nd by inches, but the excitement in his voice was evident, and it showed during post race interviews.

Carroll went to victory lane afterwards and congratulated Allie Riggs on a tremendous race, which was also a very clean race for the two. Packer also led the most laps, 11, which is the first time he has led the most laps in an ARLA race. He has led 17 in total this season in 3 of the first 5 races, a far cry from last year when he led just 2 laps the entire season.

Packer would miss the next ARLA race in Alaska, due to him being in Germany for the sixth round of the TM Master Cup Series season. Rainsford was racing in the Indy 500, and it was up to Packer to drive the famous #1 Volpi in place of Rainsford. Packer had a great qualifying run as well, starting in 7th. Despite racing with a broken right wrist that's still on the mend, Packer managed to keep the #1 Volpi around the top 10 for pretty much the entire race. It almost went up in smoke on Lap 94. Bobby Porteau, coming out of turn 1, turned the 43 car, who was a lap down, into the right rear of Packer's car, sending him spinning. But in an amazing display of car control, Packer let the car spin around twice, and when it came back around the second time, he regained control of the car, grabbed a gear, and managed to maintain his position near the top 10 due to him having a big gap on the cars behind him.

The final restart came with two laps to go, and Packer managed to muscle his way, cleanly, into his first top ten finish when he came home in 10th, maintaining the #1 team's top ten streak and points scoring streak. Not bad for someone with a broken wrist. In the meantime, Rush, driving in place of Packer at Alaska, brought the car home in 15th. Packer's next race, the Mosport 300K, saw him earn his best career Elite Series start when he qualified 2nd. Not long after, Packer found himself right on polesitter Taylor Brillon's back bumper, but as he tried to make the pass for the lead, the lapped car of Gary DeSouza would hold up Packer and cost him several spots. Crew chief Rush McCloud was screaming over the radio for the ARLA officials to get the #149 car out of the way. Strangely enough, Packer remained silent on his radio.

About midway through the race, the unthinkable happened. Leslie Riggs, back in the #50 after sitting out Alaska due to injury, for some reason, spins the lapped car of Leigh Gruell, right into the path of Packer's car, taking both Carroll and Gruell into the tire wall. It was an eerie feeling of deja vu for Packer, who had a similar incident at Karjala that cost him a shot at qualifying. Packer would eventually finish 23rd, 3 laps down. McCloud was furious, as he called for Leslie Riggs to be penalized for such an aggressive move.

Carroll would bounce back by starting in third for the Verdugo 250 Race 2. He eventually took the lead and led 40 laps, the second time he has led the most laps, but ran out of gas with 3 laps to go. He wound up finishing in 8th, but still got to go to victory lane, maybe not as a driver, but as an owner, in both races. Anthony Griffith won race 1, and Todd Wodarczyk won race 2, which meant that Packer would make history, becoming the first car owner to sweep both races at an ARLA event since they went to the twin race format. But Packer would crash out of his next two races, the 2011 OX200 @ Buffalo Downs in ARLA, and the Round of Daytona in TMMC.

Packer finishes 7th at Albuquerque, but has a disastrous TMMC outing at his home race in Ohio. Packer called it the most embarrassing performance of his career. But he bounced back at Road America, where he scored his best career TMMC finish to date: 4th. He was running in the top 10 at Grand Detour before engine failure put him out. At Indianapolis, he was nowhere near the top 25 for about 95% of the race. When drivers began having mechanical problems, it enabled Packer to finish 15th, scoring valuable points for Volpi in the manufacturers championship. His final guaranteed start at Michigan saw him not even take the green flag due to the car not being able to start.

In ARLA's 150 Laps of Dwyer, Packer would team up with Alexis Rainsford for the race, but she never got a chance to get behind the wheel, as brake failure forced the #71 out in last place. Packer would finish 14th at Waltham.

Then came the 2011 Watkins Glen Twin 150K's. Seiju Dejao scored the pole for the first race, with Packer matching his career best qualifying effort in 2nd. On the first lap, Dejao raced Packer hard into the first corner, and Packer had a run on Dejao, but Carroll fell back in behind Dejao heading up the esses due to Dejao weaving the car from side to side, trying to keep the #71 behind him. As the race progressed, it was clear that Packer had a better car than Dejao, but Dejao was able to keep the Emerald Warrior at bay due to how hard he was driving the #37 Nemoto. Consequently, this was causing Dejao's tires to wear out faster than Packer's, who was running a smooth, consistent race, and was biding his time, waiting patiently for Dejao to slip up before making his move. It came on Lap 14, when Dejao slid wide off the next-to-last corner, and Packer made his move on the outside of Dejao off the final corner. He was not in the preferred line, but Packer was still able to outbrake Dejao into turn 1 and was able to eventually complete the pass heading into the esses.

Packer managed to pull away from Dejao, and his crew had a lightning fast pit stop, which enabled him to keep the lead after pit stops.

Packer went on to dominate the second half of the race, sailing to his first victory of the season in the No. 71 Grape Soup Volpi. After the race, Packer would treat the fans to his patented Bronco Buster Burnout down the front stretch.

He finished 15th at Darlington despite being involved in a spin, and he finished 10th at Appleton. At Decatur, Packer started in 31st and couldn't make any ground, winding up 23rd. Packer is currently 21st in the ARLA Elite Series points standings for 2011 with just the Rockford 200 left to go. He initially failed to qualify, but Zach Gott, who qualified the #7 car in the A-Main, gave his spot to Packer, which allows him to start his milestone 50th ARLA Elite Series race. He finished 11th, and would finish 16th in the final points standings, earning his second straight points trophy.

As for his TM Lights and TMMC Decatur outings, Packer finished 20th in his race, and finished 20th in the overall standings, and 8th in the North Division standings. In the Decatur Grand Prix, driving the Alexisports #27 Volpi, Packer started 25th and would earn his fourth points finish in eight starts in 2011, finishing 13th, right behind the owner of the #27, Alexis Rainsford. Altogether, he scored 96 total points in 2011, good enough for 35th in the final standings despite not running all the races, and 62 of those points helped the #1 Volpi team win the 2011 TMMC Owner's Championship.

2012 Season, A New Beginning, Rivalry with Kevin Dwyer
In the offseason, Packer was signed with the Volpi Racing Team to drive the #2 MaiaSoft Volpi VC04 for the 2012 season, his long-awaited first full-time season in the TM Master Cup Series, with his teammate being English driver Divina Henton, who would be driving the #6 Lynxe Volpi.

The first race of the season at Las Vegas saw Packer start in the 7th position, and he would eventually charge to the front and led for the first time in his TMMC career. His run was spoiled early on when Team Saar USA driver Kevin Dwyer, thinking that Carroll had roughed him up a bit earlier in the race, hooked the #2 Volpi on the frontstretch, taking both cars hard into the inside wall. Both continued on with heavy damage, and crew chief Rush McCloud was furious, shouting over his radio for the officials to penalize the #72 car for rough driving.

Packer would finish out of the points. He suffered the same fate at Road Atlanta when he suffered damage in an incident between Zelda Ashby and Scott Bates early in the race. He managed to turn it around with a great run at Carbondale, although pit strategy and a few bugs in the handling caused him to fall to 14th place. Still, it was his first points of the season.

2012 European Tour
On the first leg of the European tour, at Brands Hatch, Packer finished 11th despite a Lap 1 incident with Ian Cooper, which Carroll accepted blame for, but earned the wrath of Cooper. He was penalized 15 points and sent to the rear of the field for the Round of France. Carroll appealed the points penalty, but was unsuccessful. Reportedly, VRT owner Cyril Volpi was not impressed with Carroll's decision. He was on his way to a top ten run in France before an accident involving himself, Louis Kingston, and Blake Camphausen. Afterwards, Kingston ran him into the grass, prompting Packer to spin the #17 car getting up to speed, which earned him a 30-second ATP, causing him to finish out of the points. He had words for Kevin Dwyer and Dan Mullen, who was critical of him after the race. "That's typical of Dwyer, saying shit behind my back. Hey, Dwyer, you want to call me an idiot with no talent? Come say it to my face, and you'll see what kind of nasty bastard I can be. Come at me, bro. As for Dan Mullen, he can kiss my ass. I'm sick and tired of being portrayed as the bad guy... and Camphausen, fuck you." Interestingly enough, Carroll's response only added weight to Mullen's criticism.

Packer was sent to the back for Sweden, but despite starting 35th, fought his way through the field very cleanly and showcased his road course prowess, earning his first top 10 finish of the season when he finished 9th, but then, the curse of Karjala returned. Packer finished 17th in his prequalifying race, three spots from the main qualifier, and failed to qualify for the Karjala Grand Prix for a fourth straight year. He was so upset with his performance, he immediately left the track without talking to reporters. It was here that rumors began to circulate that Carroll would be dropped in favor of Chris Davenport for the 2013 season.

He salvaged a 17th at Russia after a tough race that saw him start back in the 28th position. Then, at Wales, Packer started in the 6th position, but quickly made his way up to 4th in the first couple of turns. He pretty much stayed there up until pitstops at the halfway point of the race, which saw the #2 Volpi crew put out a lightning fast pitstop, which gave Packer the third position ahead of Leonid Roderick. For the first time since Road America last year, a spot on the podium was in his grasp. With ten laps to go, Packer played a cautious approach when he came up to lap Zach Duff, and Roderick managed to power by in the sharp left hand corner to retake the third position, but Packer was right on his heels. Then, without warning, the engine expired on the #2 Volpi, and Packer's top 5 run went up in smoke.

Packer's Enlightening Radio Interview
After a disappointing European tour, Packer was glad that he was finally heading home to the States. The TM Master Cup Series has three weeks off before the next race in Michigan, which marks the halfway point of the season. During the long break, Packer's services in his home state of Ohio were in high demand. The most notable appearance was a radio interview he did with 96.3 WLVQ.

RADIO HOST: We are pleased to welcome TM Master Cup Series driver and Ohio native Packer Carroll to the program today.

PACKER: Thanks for having me.

RADIO HOST: Of course, Packer just returned from the TM Master Cup Series' European tour, so the first question I have is: How was the trip?

PACKER: Well, I wish I could say it was great, but to be honest, we had some poor showings during that tour. Of course, we had great runs during the majority of those races, but we've just had terrible luck. Wales was just the latest example of that. We were running 4th for pretty much the entire race, and I could taste the podium, and then the engine went poof. Divina had mechanical trouble as well, but I'm not sure if the two are related or not, although more often than not, it is. And missing the Karjala Grand Prix again certainly didn't help matters. Thankfully, we get three weeks off, and after everything we've been through, it's nice to get an extended break.

RADIO HOST: One of our fans had a question for you, and they asked: Who is the man known as Packer Carroll, and what is he like?

PACKER: Well, some people might be surprised to learn that Packer is not my real first name. My full birth name is Jared Lyle Carroll. "Packer" was just a nickname at first because I'm a huge fan of the Green Bay Packers, and then I decided to make it my official first name when I got into the racing business. Seemed like a perfect to me. As for what I'm like, I'm just an average 27 year old native of Columbus, Ohio who had major aspirations of making it to stock car racing's highest level. Now, I have my own team, Gravity Racing, Inc., and it's presence is being felt far and wide, and I'm driving for one of the premier teams in the Master Cup Series. The first half of the season has, in essence, sucked, but according to Rush, I usually come alive in the second half of the season, so I'm still hopeful that we'll get our season on track.

RADIO HOST: There are rumors swirling that none of the drivers rides are safe for next year, including yours. Leonid Roderick may in line for your ride, and with Lynxe rumored to leave Volpi and bring their Women's Team up to Cup, Divina Henton may be leaving Volpi to join that effort. If you aren't resigned by Volpi, and if you can't find any rides on a full-time ride, what will you do?

PACKER: I'm fairly certain that there will be some teams knocking on my door offering me a ride, but, if I don't get an offer... (sigh) I guess if push comes to shove, I guess I'll just go back to ARLA. At least there, I'm in control of my own destiny.

RADIO HOST: What do you mean by that?

PACKER: Well, in my entire racing career, which is almost 20 years, I've driven for someone else full-time on three occasions. When I first started in the RUSH Series, I drove for Turbo Motorsports, which was owned by a man named Derrick Evans. I won two championships with the team before Rush came along, and we decided to form Gravity Racing, Inc. The second time was when I went to the TM Junior Series in 2010, when I drove the #110 for Greg Whittaker Racing. We did pretty good, finishing 5th in points. The third time is when I joined the Volpi Racing Team this year. Other than those three occasions, I've been driving my own cars, whether it was on local short tracks like Columbus Motor Speedway, Kil-Kare or Ohio Motor Speedway, the RUSH Series, the Monster Energy Modifieds, ARLA, and the TM Lights, I've always felt comfortable being my own boss and making the decisions regarding my team. When I'm driving for someone else, I'm under constant pressure to perform because I could lose my ride if don't get the job done, and it's a feeling I'm not comfortable with. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy driving for the Volpi Racing Team, and I hope they resign me for next year, but I have to admit, having to perform to save your job, it's a bit unnerving.

RADIO HOST: So it seems that you'd be more comfortable being an owner and a driver in the Cup Series, which leads to my next question: There have been rumors that some of the manufacturers are interested in signing a deal with GRI to move it up to Cup. Can you confirm whether these rumors are true or not?

PACKER: Trust me, I've heard the same rumors, and while some manufacturers might be interested, I haven't received any offers yet to move my team up to the Cup level yet, but I guess that would be the best case scenario considering how I am, eh? But, we'll wait and see what happens.

RADIO HOST: Of course, probably the biggest thing the race fans are most interested in is your date with ARLA Elite Series driver and b model Leslie Riggs, which came as a huge surprise to a lot of your fans and hers. So one of the questions that have been asked is: How the heck did you manage to get a date with Leslie Riggs?

PACKER: Ummm.... I asked.

RADIO HOST: That's it?

PACKER: Believe it or not. Of course, I didn't ask her, "HEY, LESLIE, WILL YOU MARRY ME PLEASE?", like a lot of her male fans were apparently doing, and she constantly gets letters in her mail from her fans asking to marry her. So, it was probably a nice change of pace when I asked her out on a date. Note: I asked her out on a date, not to marry her, so I think that made a difference in her decision to say yes.

RADIO HOST: And I'm guessing you were extremely nervous when you two went on your date.

PACKER: I'll admit, I was so nervous, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack, but I had a really fun time. I'm guessing she did too, because she was ribbing me quite a bit afterwards about how I don't like to drink. Of course, I'm used to that kind of thing, because I have to deal with Rush on a regular basis.

RADIO HOST: Boy, did Leslie cause quite a stir on Twitter when she tweeted, "The condom broke."

PACKER: You are not kidding. I thought that Twitter was gonna implode after she tweeted that. The responses from the other drivers and fans, it was crazy. Then she said that she was just kidding, and it all settled down... but it was damn sure entertaining to see all those reactions.

RADIO HOST: Of course, another big question on the minds of the fans is: Are you and Leslie going on a second date soon?

PACKER: Well, I'll be honest, I'd love to go on a second date with Leslie, but that's ultimately up to her. And she'd get to choose where we went, since I chose the first time, so... we'll see.

RADIO HOST: Packer, thank you for joining us here today.

PACKER: Thank you for having me.

The next race, the 2012 Round of Michigan, which was boycotted by the MCMA, saw Packer start in 4th, and he led his second lap of his career, but his engine expired right when he led it, leading to a 21st place finish, and one of only two drivers to not score points. Crew chief Rush McCloud was very vocal about the reliability issues of the Volpi equipment after the race. As a result of this and for other transgressions, Volpi fired McCloud and replaced him with long-time Volpi Racing Team mainstay David Stoyanoff. This did not make either McCloud nor Carroll very happy, but it was all rendered meaningless when Packer got word that his mother had passed away after an extended illness.

Tribute to His Mother with Quebec Triumph
A little less than a week after his mother's passing, Packer refocused his efforts on the next race, the 2012 Round of Quebec, which took place on the nearly 5 mile Road Gatineau. Packer was 2nd fastest in practice and qualified in the 2nd position, both times behind Mathias Taube. Early on, Packer slotted in behind Taube, keeping pace with the Swedish driver. Coming into the double-S combination, Carroll braked way too late and had to go through the grass and sand trap to keep the car under control. Rush McCloud, who was moved from the crew chief position to the spotter position, guided Packer back to the track. He had lost second to Swiss sensation Mélanie Clévenot, and was also challenged by Adrien Devereux for 3rd. Packer tried to hold Devereux off, but eventually had to concede the 3rd position, choosing instead to not push the pace. As it turned out, it was not a bad move.

Devereux had moved up to 2nd, and was making a move on Taube for the lead when he hooked the #10 Gessler coming out of turn 1. Taube hit the inside wall hard, damaging the suspension and taking him out of the race. Devereux was slapped with a 30-second Active Time Penalty, which put Clévenot in the lead, but Packer was right behind her, and coming into the same double-S he went off at, he made his move around Clévenot, and Packer was now the leader, and he was coming in that lap. As it turned out, so did Clévenot and Arto Kekkonen, who was closing on Packer and Clévenot while the two were battling for the lead. All three maintained their spots in the top 3, and Devereux was also trying to get around Packer to try to negate his ATP. Packer, knowing full well what could happen if Devereux gets out in clean air, tried to keep the #1 CM Corsair behind him. In the meantime, Kekkonen managed to pass Clévenot for 2nd, and while Packer was focused on Devereux, Kekkonen would try to take the lead from Packer in the double-S. The two would trade sheet metal as they fought for the point, much to the delight of the Quebec crowd. Packer would concede the lead to Kekkonen for the time being. Once again, it would prove to be a wise decision.

Not long after, as the second round of pit stops approached, Packer noticed smoke coming from a car in front of him. It turned out to be Kekkonen, as his engine had expired while leading the race, similar to what happened to Packer the previous two races. Not long after, on the same lap, Clévenot's engine expired in the double-S, and all of a sudden, Packer's two main competitors were out of the race, and there was nobody within striking distance of the #2 MaiaSoft Volpi. It was now Packer's race to lose, but he also had to be worried about his engine. His teammate, Divina Henton, fell out of the race early due to engine problems, so there was reason to be worried.

However, the engine proved to be reliable on this day, and the #2 crew was putting out fast pit stops. As the race entered its closing stages, it appeared that the only one who could possibly challenge Packer for the win was Chris Johaanes, who despite being involved in a Lap 1 spin, as well as multiple incidents during the race, was up to 2nd and was the fastest car on the track. But he was unable to catch Packer, who cruised to the checkered flag, finally scoring his maiden TM Master Cup Series victory, and in doing so, becomes just the 10th driver in history to win an ARLA Elite Series race and a TM Master Cup Series race in their career. He also led the most laps for the first time in his Cup career.

The victory lane celebration was emotional, as Packer got the Gatorade bath while he saluted the fans. Rush joined him in victory lane, and for the first time in what seemed like months, Packer was smiling as reporters interviewed him.

REPORTER: Packer, congratulations, and welcome to victory lane. After everything you've gone through in the past week or so, how much does this win mean to you?

PACKER: It means a lot. We've been so close so many times this year, only to get caught up in a wreck or have a mechanical problem, but today, we were spot on, although I had that one scary moment early in the race, but other than that, it was very clean. I had a lot of fun battling with Arto for the lead, and when he got it, I was gonna ease up a bit and let the race come to me, and then both Arto and Melanie both go out in the same lap, and the race was pretty much mine to lose, so I made sure to keep that car on the track, and here we are... finally.

REPORTER: It must've been difficult to focus on this race after your mother's passing. But you managed to fight through all of that and win this race pretty convincingly.

PACKER: Yeah, my mother would be proud of me, and I actually think she was watching over me on this day. I dedicate this win to her.

With his win, Packer vaults from 27th to 14th in the points standings, and now leads the Rookie of the Year battle by 47 points over Kevin Dwyer, heading into his home race... Ohio.

His Ohio homecoming was a lot better than last year. For the second consecutive race, Packer was starting on the outside of the front row, once again just missing the pole. On the start, he would fall back to 8th, but got back in line and began working his way back to the front. At the halfway point, Packer found himself in the lead thanks to stellar pit strategy and fast pit work from the #2 team. When Packer took the lead, the roar of the crowd was deafening. However, he was eventually passed by Jose Luis Martinez, and being stuck in the outside lane, would fall back to around 7th, which was where he would finish, his third top ten of the season. He followed that up with his second career podium, a 3rd, at Grand Detour. Despite being sent to the back at Road America, he rallied for an 8th place finish, his fourth top 10 in a row and fifth of the season.

Before Indianapolis, Packer announced that he was withdrawing from the Formula Overdrive Hanmore World Championships to focus on his Master Cup rookie campaign, which sees him as the likely 2012 Rookie of the Year. Rush would take his place in the #3 Grape Soup machine in preparation for his Formula Overdrive rookie season in 2013.

Packer finished 12th at Indy, which gave him a 160 point advantage over Kevin Dwyer in the Rookie of the Year battle with five races left in the season. He was taken out at Calder Park in a crash caused by Adrien Devereux.

He is currently 8th in the points standings.

Rivalry With Brian Sendack
Although he certainly has the respect of the majority of his peers, Packer has had a rather intense rivalry with TMMC driver Brian Sendack. It all got started at the 2009 Round of Decatur, when Packer accidentally wrecked Alonso Tosia and the lapped car of Woody Watts in the first Pre-Q race. Sendack, driving for Ocean Motorsports at the time, was very critical of Packer, and promised to send him "packing" in the main qualifying race. Packer did not take kindly to those words, and in the main Q-Race, Packer and Sendack were 1st and 2nd after pitstops. In turn 3, Packer nudged Sendack out of the way to take the lead. Sendack tried to retaliate at the Hill, but could not spin Packer out. Packer would go on to win the Q-Race and qualify for the Decatur Grand Prix. Sendack and Packer had some heated words after the race that almost came to blows. Ironically, Sendack started right behind Packer in the race.

At the 2010 Karjala Grand Prix, Packer, now driving for Majestic Motorsports, won the 1st Pre-Q race and started on the pole for the main Q-Race. Unfortunately, Sendack started right next to him, and going into turn 1, Sendack dumped Packer into the sand trap. Sendack finished 2nd, qualifying for the race, while Packer failed to qualify for a second straight year. Packer, furious, met Sendack with a hard shove on pit road that sent Sendack to the ground. The crews had to hold the two archrivals back.

They also had another heated confrontation at the 120 Laps of Dwyer endurance race later in 2010. Fortunately, there were no on-track incidents between the two.

In 2011, at the TM Master Cup Series finale at Decatur, Packer and Sendack traded some paint during the first lap of their Pre-Q race, but there were no other incidents between the two, and both qualified for the main Q-Race. Interestingly enough, they both qualified for the Decatur Grand Prix and started in the same row, though there were no incidents between the two.

Frustration at Karjala
One thing Packer would like to rid himself of is the disappointment of not qualifying for the Karjala Grand Prix in each of the past four seasons.

In 2009, driving in his own car #48, he started 20th in his Pre-Q race, and was 8th at the end of the first lap. But his engine lost a cylinder midway through, and he finished last, failing to Pre-qualify.

In 2010, driving the Majestic Motorsports #71, he won his Pre-Q race and was on pole for the main Q-Race, but was spun by Sendack on the first lap and failed to qualify.

In 2011, driving the Volpi Racing Team #28, he again won his Pre-Q race and was in position to qualify, but with 8 laps to go, he crashed into the tire barriers trying to avoid the spinning car of Juho Kivela in the Dwyer S, and failed to qualify for a third straight year.

In 2012, driving the Volpi Racing Team #2, he finished 17th in his Pre-Q race, 3 spots from qualifying for the main Q-Race, and failed to qualify for the Karjala Grand Prix for the fourth straight year.

Reaction to Scott Hamilton's Death
After it was announced that Scott Hamilton was killed in a Lap 32 crash in the 2011 Round of Brazil for the TM Master Cup Series, Packer gave his thoughts in a press release concerning the passing of Hamilton and the safety of the sport.

"I... I'm just at a loss for words right now. I raced against Scott Hamilton in the TM Junior Series last year, and he showed that despite not winning a race, he had remarkable consistency the whole year, which ended with him winning the championship. And now, just one year later, he's gone. One of the most promising drivers of our era... gone. Everyone here at Gravity Racing, Inc. is greatly saddened losing one of our fellow competitors, and our thoughts and prayers are with Scott's friends and family."

"This season, we've had more injuries than the previous ten seasons combined. Ten drivers have been injured this season, myself included, and tragically, we've had one fatality. I think all the series as a whole have fallen a bit behind the eight ball as far as safety features are concerned. We need to step up on improving the safety features on all of these cars, like reinforcing the roof so it doesn't collapse again like it did with Scott Hamilton, moving the drivers cockpit over toward the center a few more inches, installing the SAFER barriers at tracks like Brazil, improving head and neck restraints, everything. Too many drivers have been injured this season to ignore it any longer, and Scott's death was the last straw. We need to do something, and we need to do it NOW."

Personal Life
Packer currently resides in Columbus, Ohio, in the small town of Groveport. Whenever he has a chance, he heads to Columbus Motor Speedway on Saturday nights during the racing season.

He is currently single. He went on a date with ARLA driver Leslie Riggs, but it appears to be a one-time deal.

He is also good friends with fellow TM Master Cup driver Ryan Matthews.