Breakthrough: Patrick Emerling Gets First Whelen Mod Tour Win At Bristol Motor Speedway

Patrick Emerling celebrates victory Wednesday at Bristol Motor Speedway (Photo Jim DuPont)

Since 2011 Patrick Emerling has been looking to find his way to victory lane with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Wednesday it was a long trip from his Orchard Park, N.Y., but the 24-year old Emerling finally got that win he’s been searching and did it in one of the series’ marquee events.

Emerling won the Whelen Modified Tour Bush’s Beans 150 Wednesday at Bristol (Tenn.) Speedway.

It capped off an almost perfect day in Tennessee for Emerling, who also led practice for the series and won the pole for the event. He led 148 of 150 laps during the race.

“It’s just a dream come true,” Emerling said. “It’s incredible. We only run a handful of the Whelen Tour races and to come down here and win practice, catch the pole and lead every single lap, it’s an incredible feeling for us as a team.”

Doug Coby of Milford was second, his third consecutive second place finish in series action. Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, N.Y. was third.

Chase Dowling of Roxbury and Ryan Preece of Berlin rounded out the top-five respectively. Ronnie Williams of Tolland,, making his first career start at Bristol, was eighth.

Emerling was making his 78th career series start dating back to 2011. He ran full-time with the series from 2011 to 2015.

He ran six events in 2016. Wednesday’s start at Bristol was his third series start this year. He was fifth in the second event of the season, the Icebreaker 150 on April 9 at Thompson Speedway. He also started the Eastern Propane & Oil 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 15.

A 15th place finish for series points leader Timmy Solomito made for a serious tightening of the action near the top of the standings. Rowan Pennink finished seventh and now sits two points behind Solomito. Preece is nine points out of the lead in third, though Preece will miss the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sept. 23.

Coby, looking for his fourth consecutive series title, moved to fourth in the standings, just 17 points behind Solomito. Coby was seventh in the series standings, 42 points off the lead, after an 11th place finish at NHMS on July 15. Since then he had recorded second place finishes at Stafford Speedway(Aug. 4) and Thompson Speedway (Aug. 12) before Wednesday’s runner-up finish at Bristol. He moved to sixth in the standings after the event at Stafford. He came into Wednesday’s event at Bristol fourth in the standings, 30 points off the lead.

Bonsignore sits 19 points behind Solomito at fifth in the standings.

 

Comments

  1. Another first time winner at Bristol. This kid is impressive too. It was only a matter of time. Congrats to that whole team. Well deserved. No rain for a change.

  2. Great job Justin, you and Billy are definitely making some noise since the band got back together!

  3. darealgoodfella says

    The points just got tighter. This is getting interesting. No mistakes!!!

    Glad the weather held out, saw reports of sprinkles on the track.

    Never expected Emerling. Trouble and bad luck just seems to follow him. When he runs, he runs good, until something happens.

  4. Correct me if I’m wrong but this may be the closest points battle in a while for the tour. Obviously preece missing Langley contributed

  5. Fast Eddie says

    Another “new guy” for the race winners list, one who’s been overdue! Dareal, you’re right, he often has run well only to get caught in a mess he had nothing to do with. Hopefully the team will enter a few more WMT races!

  6. I do recall someone saying last winter that there were 8-10 cars who could contend for a title. Here we are mid August with six teams very much in the mix and three or four more teams with an outside shot if lady luck finds them. Obviously those numbers will dwindle as we approach Thompson but it’s lining up to be one heck of a second half.

  7. darealgoodfella says

    New faces on the podium are to be expected… look at the list of drivers. There’s plenty of new names.

    Yeah, hopefully the 07 will commit to a few more races.

    Seven more races to go, these guys will have to race hard, careful and clean. Bonus points, lead lap points, risk vs reward. The slightest mistake can be costly. Preece is out of it since he will be missing another race, Coby has another wreck or two coming his way. Bonsignore and Goodale need Solomito and Pennink to have bad luck. Goodale needs all of the above to miss a race or two.

  8. Mother Nature could possibly help preece if weather is an issue in New Hampshire.

  9. Nascar can’t control mother nature to help Preece win like they did at thompson

  10. Nascar fixed the broadcast to cover spin and explain the Coby finish their way. Preece got his damage from running into the 2. Shameful on NASCAR’s part. Sad to see Tommy Baldwin involved in such a cover-up. Broadcast was complete horse bleep!

  11. Muddbus461 says

    Glad to see an ROC guy win the “marquee” event.Really wasn’t supported by the South teams,only 26 cars….3 pulled off because they did not meet speed requirements…1 leader…yeah great NWMT race…probably will be the same at Oswego…..

  12. Ummmm…coby brushed the wall and blew a tire…what are you talking about?

  13. NH Mark,You have been a voice of reason on these threads for a while now.Nascar and Tommy Baldwin in a conspiracy to make Preece look good.Really?

  14. I’m not saying Tommy was behind it. Obviously Nascar made the call to edit the video in a way that made themselves look good.TB was given his marching orders during the taping. We all have bosses. I just would have expected a little more from the Long Island Gang. Who knows, maybe TB did say it was bs. I don’t know. At the end of the day, I have a great deal of respect for TB. I just thought it was a bad look for him even if I put this on Nascar. It is a really bad look for them (and Preece).

  15. Bring back Martinsville, get rid of Bristol.

  16. When Bristol first came out in the schedule it was exciting. Big speed, fast laps but then came the shortened races due to TV coverage for the trucks. Rain delays that forced the race to end at midnight again due to the trucks. The race purse does not even support the trip, no TV coverage and the stands are empty. Time for a change!

  17. It is definitely stupid not to show the spin on TV coverage.It invites all kinds of speculation.Never have been a fan of Nascar officiating and its easy to see why.I don’t think TB would take marching orders from anyone for a one time gig.I will say again I’m with humphry,Martinsville in a headlining event so after a long drive at least only Mother Nature can screw you.

  18. Bristol is already on 2018 schedule. The only thing that has changed is the same day tv coverage. The drivers seem to enjoy it. Especially those that win. I agree purse is an issue.

  19. I would rather watch Martinsville on live tv coverage. Would be one hell of a race especially under the lights.

  20. Bristol paid cash purse $77,550.
    Should be double that.
    Bristol has already signed a 3 year contract with the WMT starting with the 2017 race.
    2018 and 2019 are already on the future schedule.

  21. Don’t forget about the owners side of the points.
    The owner gets the point check.
    Eddie Partridge leads by 17 points.

  22. Great job by Patrick and the entire 07 team.
    They put an ass whopping on the entire field.

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