It was a sweet homecoming ‘cookin’ for Patrick Emerling, who picked up his fourth win of 2026 in dominant fashion. It could also prove to be a pivotal win in the championship fight.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour made the trip to Oswego Speedway for the Toyota Mod Classic 150. It was Austin Beers on the pole, with Emerling starting to his outside.
Emerling would fall in behind Beers to start the race, but would eventually reel in Beers and take control of the race at Lap 28. Emerling would go on to lead 124 laps at Oswego, a race he had won back in 2024 and had a strong showing just a year ago.
Emerling, who’s out of Orchard Park, New York, was ready for Oswego this year.
“This is a race where we were really excited to run all season,” Emerling said in victory lane. “We ran really well here last year, and won here the year before. We lost track position last year. We were really looking forward to this one. We were really confident. We had a really good package for here. This is a home race for us. This is a track that I grew up on, raced ROC and sport mods, and it’s really special to come and win. This would be my home race on the tour. I’m just super excited.”
Emerling said their USNEPower Motorsports 1 unloaded a fast piece, Top-5 in both practices and qualified second.
“Really thankful, I didn’t do a lot of work out there,” Emerling said “That was all Dale Hedquist, just making the car go fast. I just got to give up to the whole USNEPower, number one team, Davis Miller, my family, Dale, right there. The thing was a missile today, and just really exciting to come here and get another one.”
Early on in the race, it was Austin Beers jumping out front, leading the first 27 laps, before Emerling would get by and take over on Lap 28. Despite being patient in the opening laps, Emerling was hungry to get by Beers, who sat second in the championship standings 10 points back coming into Oswego.
“He(Beers) started out a little bit snug, and I started out neutral, and I just wanted to try my hardest and get around them while I still could,” Emerling explained. “His car can come in a little bit more, and that’s what we kind of did, and then we just played. We just had a good car all night, just had track position, got the rears on, and the car was perfect after that.“
Coming home with a second place finish was Jonathan McKennedy, picking up his sixth Top-5 of the year.
“We had a pretty good car in the race,” McKennedy said. “We just ultimately got a little bit loose, loose in, really was my biggest issue. We made some changes in that pitstop. We put two new rear tires on. The weird thing was the car got even looser, so I want to go home and spend some time and figure out why that was. That was kind of strange, but overall, a great day, a second place for me here is great. I’ve raced here probably nine or 10 times over the years, between modified and supers, and I think I’ve only finished two races. I’ve just always had a black cloud here, we’ve blown motors here, rear ends, and flat tires. I’ve always had horrible luck here, so obviously it would have been nice to win, but Patrick had a really good car, he drove a great race. Yeah, just come up a little bit short. We’ll take a second and we’ll head to Waterford tomorrow with the Monaco Tri-Track Series.”
Tyler Rypkema comes home with a solid third place finish, after the BRE Racing team made the right adjustments and found their way into the Top-5.
“It made a huge difference,” Rypkema said. “We were just way too tight earlier on and it was just really pushing the nose hard and getting free off. We kind of jumped them there, and it helped a lot to get down and roll through the middle a little bit. I was watching a lot of other guys who were a lot worse than I was. Had elbows up on those restarts and got past the 64, and got down in, and had something for the 79 there, but just didn’t quite make it happen. Great day all around. A great points day. Hard to complain about a third year. I haven’t run very well here the last few years, so it’s really good to get back here in that least competitive form.”
It was another very strong day for Teddy Hodgdon, despite a pitroad miscue for the Hodgdon Racing team. They put on a third tire under the same caution, to then be penalized, but that third tire likely was an advantage for Hodgdon.
“That was huge, it was just a miscue on the road,” Hodgdon said. “We misunderstood the rules, and thought we could put three on in one caution, and just, that wasn’t the rule. So, I had to serve the penalty. I was a little hot in there, not going to lie. I didn’t want to go a lap down like that, but I had to keep calm and cool. Keep focused and we ended up doing that at the end there.”
Hodgdon would fight his way from the rear of the field after getting his lap back, picking off positions one by one.
“It was definitely cool,” Hodgdon said “I could see a lot of guys were getting loose, and we were building tight, so I knew if I could just get the power down, and it went straight off, then I’d get guys, and especially charging into Turn 3, they would kind of hold their line up, and I’d be able to sneak right underneath them. It was just a great effort by our guys. I can’t thank all our sponsors enough.”
Hodgdon, a rookie in his first full-time season with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is on a roll with the Top-10 at New Hampshire, win at Stafford, and now a hard fought comeback Top-5 at Oswego.
“Hopefully they keep this momentum going,” Hodgdon said. “Riverhead, I didn’t do so good last time, but Thompson and I have a ton of laps there, so we’ll keep the momentum going, and hopefully make some spots up in the standings.”
Rounding out the Top-5 was Mike Christopher Jr., his second Top-5 finish in the 2026 season. Christopher Jr. was using the restarts to his advantage, picking off positions on the high line.
“I think it fired pretty good, but the tops seem to go on the restarts there, so we got lucky starting eighth, sixth, and positions like that,” Christopher Jr. explained. “Definitely didn’t have anything for those top guys, but coming from the back was a lot of fun, a little bit of strategy involved, where the 05 was better on taking that right front tire, but we needed a night like this where, you know, it went right, and we’re talking to you guys, but we’re not third or first, but it’s progress. I know there’s only two races left in the year, but I’m having a good time. Thank you to Alan, Darrell Baker, all the guys to help out, Gino and Dave, and, all the guys that I bring too. It’s been an up and down season, but might as well finish out strong.”
Notables results on the day, with championship contender Austin Beers leading the first handful of laps would fade late in the race, coming home in sixth.
“We were good the first run, just too tight,” Beers said. “Fired off the same for the second one and it built very free the last 30 laps.”
Matt Hirschman was another driver with an up and down day. Hirschman topped the charts in both practices today, running inside the Top-5 much of the first 100 laps. On a Lap 102 restart, Hirschman would get into the inside wall, knocking the tow out, but would salvage the day with an eight place finish.
Another driver with a busy day, was Stephen Kopcik and the Wanick Motorsports team. Kopcik would spin in first practice in Turn 3, making contact with the wall, damaging the right front. Kopcik and the Wanick Motorsports team would make it for qualifying, timing 10th, and then finishing the day in 10th.
Full Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway Results:
Stephen Durham joined the STS team in the summer of 2026. A New York native, Durham embraced the dirt big block modified world close to home, eventually working for Lebanon Valley Speedway hall-of-famer Eddie Marshall. Durham's first opportunities as a journalist and photographer came for Race Pro Weekly after meeting founder Bobby Chalmers. A meteorologist by trade and now living in Massachusetts, Durham covers regional racing across the Northeast.
