Patrick Emerling Tallies Third Straight Win During New Smyrna World Series

It's three in a row for Patrick Emerling, who took his third consecutive World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing Tour-type Modified victory on Thursday night at New Smyrna Speedway.

Starting on the pole after qualifying was rained out, Emerling took the lead on a lap 34 restart as Jake Lutz fell off the pace from the lead. From there, Emerling led the rest of the way and claimed his fourth victory in Modified competition during this year's World Series.

“I’ve just got to give it up," said Emerling in victory lane. "This is an awesome team. We’ve been working together a little bit longer and we’re just getting a little bit stronger. We were a little bit tight to start that race. The 14 [of Lutz] was rolling really, really good. There was a little bit more grip than I thought there was going to be out there.

“Just a little snug to start. I was a little worried, I got my brake bias stuck about 10 rounds in the rear. That got me a little bit in the last half of the race. One of those racing things. The car was coming alive towards the end. We had the track position today and we were able to stay up front.”

Lutz's misfortune proved to be Emerling's greatest benefit. Not only did it allow Emerling to take the top spot, but it stacked up the field behind Lutz and gave Emerling a chance to break free from the pack.

Anthony Nocella finished second, happy to bounce back after fighting his car throughout the World Series. Nocella believed he had a car that could compete with Emerling for the win, but suffered some wheel damage during the stack-up behind Lutz on the restart.

“We were coming, you know. We’ve been struggling all week, blew a motor, a few other problems. It was a good day to finally have a good run. The car, I thought, could win the race, pretty sure. Just that last restart, when the 14 didn’t get going there, we got the toe knocked in some. A little bit too tight there at the end, but still good enough. We were slowly gaining, but nowhere near enough to get to him.”

Similarly, Trevor Catalano's third-place finish was a rebound effort for that driver. A former race winner in the 602 Modified division during the World Series, the podium finish was Catalano's first in the Tour-type Modified division across two years of competition.

“This was a really good run," said Catalano. "We struggled all week with this thing. We were 15th or something the first night, 13th the second night, ninth last night. Tonight, we decided, you know what, we’re going to take the morning off, not practice, put the thing on scales, go through it deep. We changed almost everything on the car, and it was way better.”

Eric Goodale crossed the line fourth, followed by Timmy Solomito.

The Tour-type Modifieds wrap up their World Series with the Richie Evans Memorial 100 on Friday night. Friday's racing program also includes a 35-lap Mod Mini feature, a 35-lap Bomber A feature and 20 laps for the Ground Pounders.

-Photo credit: Jason Reasin

Tour-type Modified 50 Unofficial Results