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By Adam Fenwick NASCAR.com
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The phrase “hitting your stride” is an idiom, an expression that has a figurative meaning different than the literal meaning of the words.
In this case, hitting your stride means to begin doing something with confidence and effectiveness after a slow start.
It’s safe to say that what Patrick Emerling has done in the last month fits the definition of that particular idiom.
Emerling drove to a convincing victory in Saturday night’s Toyota Mod Classic 150 at Oswego Speedway, his first triumph at one of New York’s most historic race tracks.
The win, his second in as many races, thrusts the driver from Orchard Park, New York directly into a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship battle that until Saturday night appeared to be another dual between Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore.
“We’re building momentum,” Emerling said in Victory Lane. “We had one hiccup this year at Richmond and that pinned us back there. Anything can happen, though. We’re coming on strong as a team.”
This is Emerling’s first season driving for Rich Gautreau, a first-year car owner with the Modified Tour who owns a heavy-duty truck repair and fleet service business in California called Fleetworks Inc. The deal for Emerling to drive for the team came together during the offseason. He was convinced to join Gautreau’s program after seeing the dedication required to challenge for a championship.
“There was a lot of excitement for this team going into this year,” Emerling said. “When the opportunity came about to drive for Rich Gautreau during the offseason, I was just so excited to get started.”
As you would expect, it’s taken some time for Emerling to get up to speed with the new team. A crash and subsequent 24th-place finish at Richmond Raceway in March put the team behind the eight ball.
But slowly, Emerling and company began to find the pace they were seeking. At New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Emerling ran fourth. At Monadnock Speedway, he came home third. At Lancaster Motorplex — you guessed it — he finished second.
Then came Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, where Emerling started from the pole and led every lap, something nobody had done in years at the facility.
“Yeah, we had a few bumps in the road,” Emerling said. “We came out pretty solid, and we just kept on trying to get ourselves in a rhythm and trying to get better each week. There was just so much hard work done on this car with this awesome group of guys.”
Saturday’s race at Oswego was not like that race at Thompson. Emerling didn’t win the pole, and he didn’t lead every lap. He might not have even had the best car.
What he did have was the confidence to do something that could have backfired spectacularly but instead paid off and led directly to his trip to Victory Lane.
The moment came during a restart on Lap 70. Emerling restarted third behind Tim Connolly, who had opted not to pit, and Bonsignore. Connolly got off Turn 2 poorly, and Bonsignore rocketed to the outside. Emerling, on the other hand, went low and passed both to take the lead.
“It was tough. We were all on tires and (Connolly) wasn’t,” Emerling said. “On the restarts, anything can happen. I played out a few scenarios in my head, and that was one of them.”
With the win, Emerling finds himself unofficially 24 points behind Bonsignore in the battle for the series championship and only 19 points behind second-place Silk.
Five races remain in the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. That leaves plenty of time for Emerling to catch Bonsignore and Silk. After all, he’s just hitting his stride.
“Anything can happen,” Emerling said. “If we keep doing what we’re doing here, we’ll be looking pretty good.”
