Patrick Emerling claims NASCAR Modified Tour opener

Last year’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season opener at New Smyrna Speedway saw Patrick Emerling deliver a fourth-place finish in Rich Gautreau’s first race as a car owner.

Their second visit to New Smyrna together ended with a trip to Victory Lane.

In a race dominated by a record number of cautions and diverging pit strategies, Emerling utilized every available opportunity to climb from the tail end of the field. Fresh rubber on his No. 1 Fleetworks Inc. Modified in the closing laps enabled Emerling to open 2025 with his eighth career Modified Tour victory.

The cohesion Emerling has developed in a short amount of time with Gautreau’s team had him eager to hit the track on a Saturday after a long winter of preparation.

“We couldn’t wait to get rolling,” Emerling said. “This is a brand new LFR car. [My crew chief] Dale Hedquist and the team put in so much hard work. I think Dale was working 100 hours a week. This is absolutely incredible. We weren’t the best car at the beginning, but we had to dial it in so we were good at the end.”

When Emerling made the decision to join Gautreau’s start-up operation ahead of the 2024 season, he expected to be competitive every week.

Aside from a crash that knocked them out of the second race of the season at Richmond Raceway, efficiency quickly became a theme for Emerling and Gautreau. The duo’s first nine races together consisted of six top-five finishes, all while Emerling inched closer to giving Gautreau his first victory as a car owner.

Everything finally came together for Emerling in race 10 of the year at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, where he cruised to victory after leading all 150 laps from the pole. Two more triumphs for Emerling at Oswego Speedway and Monadnock Speedway solidified a third-place points finish for Emerling behind Ron Silk and champion Justin Bonsignore.

Emerling entered the New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 determined to build upon a stellar 2024. The car provided by Gautreau possessed plenty of speed, but the path toward the front proved unconventional with a plethora of cautions resulting in numerous pit stops.

An ill-timed yellow could have derailed Emerling’s strategy and shuffled him to the rear. Having been in similar situations several times during his career, Emerling kept his composure, all while patiently waiting for an opening to give himself a tire advantage over his competition.

“We started dead last, but as a team, we didn’t panic at all,” Emerling said. “We won the Spring Sizzler doing the same thing with the motor issue in qualifying. This was a strategy race, and you’re going to give up your track position early anyway. There were a lot of variables, but we wanted to out-tire the field and it all worked out.”

A caution for Trevor Catalano with 50 laps remaining brought Emerling to pit road for fresh rubber. He proceeded to pick off the slower cars in front of him before making the race-winning pass on Craig Lutz during the penultimate restart.

Lutz, who has not visited Victory Lane in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour since 2022, knew he was at the mercy of yellow flags. The early cautions allowed Lutz to climb into the top five with his strategy, while the late ones made it impossible to fend off Emerling.

“With the pit strategy there, it’s such a gamble,” Lutz said. “It really makes the crew chief and the crew roll the dice on the calls and you hope one works out your way. [Emerling] had the best car and his strategy worked out the best, but we fought for it. We just came up a little bit short.”

Despite settling for a disappointing second, Lutz saw Saturday’s season-opener as a step in the right direction. If he can amass more strong runs like the one at New Smyrna, Lutz is optimistic he can contend for the Modified Tour title in his second year with Goodie Racing.

Emerling will be a primary obstacle standing in the path of Lutz and the rest of the Modified Tour field. With his victory at New Smyrna on Saturday, Emerling has now enjoyed 15 consecutive finishes inside the top 10.

A long season awaits Emerling as he looks to parlay his New Smyrna victory into a potential Modified Tour title. He has full trust in himself, Gautreau, Hedquist and the rest of the operation to keep securing wins and solidifying themselves as the championship favorite.

“This is what we are trying to do,” Emerling said. “We executed tonight. It’s racing and anything can happen, but we came out on the good side tonight. We’re going to try and continue this momentum. This is a really scrappy team and [a championship] will take everyone involved.”

Justin Bonsignore overcame losing a lap from a flat tire to start his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship defense with a third-place finish. A strong evening for Luke Baldwin, in which he earned his first career pole, culminated with a fourth-place performance.

Austin Beers rounded out the top-five finishers. Following him in the running order were Stephen Kopcik, Eric Goodale, Ryan Newman, Ron Silk and Andrew Krause.

The Modified Tour gets a prolonged break before heading to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on March 30. FloRacing will provide live flag-to-flag coverage.

NWMT New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200
New Smyrna Speedway
February 8 2026

1. Patrick Emerling
2. Craig Lutz
3. Justin Bonsignore
4. Luke Baldwin*
5. Austin Beers
6. Stephen Kopcik
7. Eric Goodale
8. Ryan Newman
9. Ron Silk
10. Andrew Krause
11. Tyler Rypkema
12. Brian Robie
13. Trevor Catalano
14. Tommy Catalano
15. Matt Hirschman
16. Max Zachem
17. Mark Stewart*
18. Tyler Catalano
19. Ken Heagy
20. Dave Sapienza
21. Mike Marshall*
22. Tyler Barry*
23. Norman Newman*
24. Gary McDonald
25. Chris Hatton*
26. Jeremy Gerstner
27. Kyle Bonsignore
28. Frank Fleming
29. Chase Dowling
30. Brian Sones*
31. Jacob Lutz