Modified Tour points leader Patrick Emerling heads to Thompson this Wednesday with a chance at history

The warm New England summer months seem to suit Patrick Emerling. Throughout his career, Emerling has seemed to thrive when temperatures in the Northernmost states are at their warmest. The majority of his 12 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins have come after June 1, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Emerling. “It seems that we seem to have a little bit more success the last couple of years in the summer,” Emerling acknowledged. “I don’t think there is a reason for that other than things kind of falling into the right place for us and showing up with fast race cars and being able to capitalize on it.” This year has been no different for the 33-year-old from Orchard Park, New York, who has been unbeatable for the last month on the Modified Tour. ENTRY LIST: See who's racing Wednesday at Thompson Emerling has won the last three series events -- at Claremont Motorsports Park, White Mountain Motorsports Park and Monadnock Speedway. That marks the 18th time a driver has won at least three consecutive events dating back to the formation of the modern series in 1985. The triumphs have catapulted him to the top of the Modified Tour standings with six races left in the year, but he enters Wednesday’s Thompson 150 presented by FloSports.com at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (8 p.m. ET on FloRacing) with a chance at history. Should he win the Thompson 150, something he’s done each of the last two seasons, he will become just the third driver in series history to win four consecutive races. He would join a pair of legends – Richie Evans and Mike Stefanik – on that exclusive list. [caption id="attachment_520936" align="aligncenter" width="1300"] Patrick Emerling hasn't been beaten in Modified Tour competition in more than a month. (Photo: Chris Dehney/NASCAR Racing)[/caption] The chance to share a mark with two of Modified racing’s greatest competitors is not something Emerling takes lightly. “That’s pretty surreal,” Emerling said. “If that’s something that we could do, especially in the modern era, today, that would be something really special for us as a team. “That would be absolutely incredible to get another one.” Emerling’s year got off to a bit of a slow start as he finished fourth, sixth, 13th and sixth in the first four races of the season. After the fourth race of the year at Seekonk Speedway in May, Emerling was 21 points out of the championship lead, the furthest back he’s been all year. Things began to click not long after that. Emerling earned a third-place finish at Seekonk Speedway when the series returned to the track on July 1, but that was just the start. Victories at Claremont, White Mountain and Monandock soon followed, and Emerling suddenly went from 21 points out of the championship lead on May 16 to 16 points ahead. He credits the sudden power surge to his USNE Motorsports team, which is led by crew chief Dale Hedquist. “Early on in the year, we were kind of searching a little bit,” Emerling said. “We weren’t running to our standard the first part of the season. We just kept on digging and we kind of got into a rhythm. We went to a couple tracks where we thought we knew pretty well. “Claremont, Dale won there in 2022 with Jon McKennedy, the last Tour race. We knew we were going to be good going into White Mountain and Monadnock. Before that we were kind of at some tracks that were kind of a work in progress for us. It’s a combination, but a lot of it is getting in our groove and finding our rhythm. “Once we got in our groove, we knew we were going to be pretty good.” [caption id="attachment_520937" align="aligncenter" width="1300"] Patrick Emerling has won the last two summer midweek races at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, making him the obvious favorite for Wednesday evening. (Photo: Chris Dehney/NASCAR Racing)[/caption] If Emerling can emerge as the winner of the Thompson 150 on Wednesday, then he’ll be one win away from the record books. The record for consecutive wins in Modified Tour competition is five, which was accomplished by Evans in 1985 and Stefanik in 1997. Emerling with a win Wednesday would have a chance to tie that mark at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Aug. 22. Emerling thinks, based on past runs at both tracks and his current hot streak, he and the USNE Motorsports team have a chance to make the group of two a group of three. “Loudon is a track that is one of my best tracks,” Emerling said. “We’ve been really, really close to winning that one over the years. It seems like something would always happen. We had a really, really good car there last year. We were leading laps and running in the top two. “Unfortunately, we got wrecked at Loudon last year. We’re really looking forward to that one as we think we have some unfinished business there.” Before he can get to New Hampshire for the Mohegan Sun 100, he must make it through Wednesday’s Thompson 150. He started last one season ago and still managed to find Victory Lane during the annual midweek show at Thompson, so Emerling has as good a shot as anyone to find his way back to Victory Lane again. “It’s interesting, the cars are all just so close together in speed where all it takes is track conditions on a given day to make one car such as us better than the competition on a given day at a place like Thompson,” Emerling said. “You could go there with the same setup at different times of the year and it will race differently and the race track will feel different. “We have some really good guys that we’re up against. We’re all tough to beat, and we all have a lot of respect for each other I believe. We’re just going to race it out and see what happens.”