It’s fair to say Ronnie Williams has been on of the most snakebitten drivers in the Tour Type Modified division at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in recent years.
Williams had been so close so many times to getting his first New Smyrna Tour Type Modified win. That was on display on Thursday when Williams got passed for the lead in the final corner of the 60-lap feature by Patrick Emerling.
Friday Williams got the weight of the wait for that first win off his shoulders with multiple layers of drama playing out.
Williams drove away from the field over the final 37 laps to win the Richie Evans Memorial 100 at New Smyrna Speedway.
It was the last of five Tour Type Modified division events for the week and Williams used the victory to clinch his first Tour Type Modified division World Series championship.
“It’s awesome,” Williams said. “… I’m happy we got the win, that’s out of the way. Got the championship, that’s out of the way. We’ll just keep coming back here. Looking forward to next year and also what we can do on the [Monaco Modified] Tri-Track Series and what we can do on the [Whelen Modified] Tour this year.”
Emerling was 3.6 seconds behind Williams in second at the checkered and Jimmy Blewett third.
Williams passed Jimmy Blewett for the lead on lap 62 and went unchallenged the rest of the way.
“It feels good,” Williams said. “We had the whole thing that happened [Thursday]. Things happen for a reason, I’m a big believer in that. We keep coming back and that’s why we love this sport. It’s awesome. The car was good at the beginning and I was just biding my time, following Emerling through.”
Williams finished eighth in the 60-lap opener for the division on Monday. He was 15th in Tuesday’s 60-lap feature. He had a second place run in the John Blewett III Memorial 76 on Wednesday and was second in Thursday’s 60-lap feature.
Williams beat Emerling by eight points in the final Tour Type Modified standings.
Emerling, the 2025 World Series Tour Type Modified champion, missed Monday’s feature because of engine issues. He finished second on Tuesday, won Wednesday and won Thursday.
“[Williams] was freaking rolling,” Emerling said. “He ran a really smart, good race. Congrats to those guys and that whole crew. … They had her dialed the last few nights.”
Williams came into the final event tied with Andrew Krause at the top of the standings. Krause had a ninth place finish Friday and ended up 16 points off the lead in third in the standings. Blewett finished fourth in the final standings, 24 points off the lead.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about this week,” Blewett said. “We ran up front pretty much the majority of the week. They knew we were here 100 percent. We were just lacking that little bit.”
Jeffrey Battle went by Jeffrey Goodale at the start. Trevor Catalano went by Goodale for second on the second lap. On lap three Catalano made the move under Battle to take over the lead.
On lap five Blewett went by Battle for second with James Blewett following him to third.
With Catalano out front, Jimmy Blewett in second and Cam McDermott third, Patrick Emerling moved to fourth past James Blewett on lap 31. Two laps later Williams moved by James Blewett for fifth.
On lap 42 Jimmy Blewett got under Catalano to take over the lead. Cam McDermott followed shorty thereafter to second. Emerling made the move by Catalano for third on lap 47 with Williams following to fourth.
Before the event officials announced that there would be a competition yellow thrown if the field went 50 consecutive laps at any point without a caution. And that moment came following lap 50.
The caution flew with Jimmy Blewett leading, McDermott in second, Emerling in third and Williams in fourth.
Jimmy Blewett held the top spot through the lap 51 restart with Emerling moving to second and Williams to third.
On lap 56 Williams overtook Emerling to move to second. Williams continued his charge to the front, passing Jimmy Blewett for the lead on lap 62
After a heated battle, Emerling overtook Jimmy Blewett for second on lap 79. By then Williams had opened up a 2.5 second lead out front.
2026 New Smyrna World Series Tour Type Modified Division Final Standing
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Thanks to the whole racedayct crew for the coverage this week. I know it’s an undertaking, expensive, but it’s gratefully appreciated. Well done.