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By Brandon White NASCAR.com
WINCHESTER, New Hampshire — No driver has been as dominant on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour as Patrick Emerling in the last two months.
That momentum continued for Emerling in Saturday’s Winchester Fair presented by USNE at Monadnock Speedway. Not only did a spirited drive give Emerling his third victory of 2024, but he also took home a $3,000 bonus by claiming the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup that encompassed the three Monadnock events.
RELATED: Complete results from the Winchester Fair pres. by USNE
Pursuing and then overtaking Matt Hirschman for the victory was an arduous task for Emerling, who credited everyone within owner Rich Gautreau’s organization for consistently providing stellar cars in their first year together.
“That was a really hard race out there,” Emerling said. “We all raced each other like gentlemen up front there. I knew we had a really good car today, but it came down to strategy. There was a lot of stuff going on there at the end, but we stuck to our plan. I’m so grateful to run with this Fleetworks No. 1 team and we’ll keep on rolling.”
Two consecutive third-place performances in the previous Monadnock races gave Emerling the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup points lead heading into Saturday.
An eighth-place qualifying effort that was not influenced by the redraw meant Emerling would have to fight to maintain his points lead at the end of the evening. Further complicating matters was Hirschman starting in the sixth position, who trailed Emerling by three points in the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup standings.
Hirschman successfully took the lead from Craig Lutz after 77 laps, all while Emerling patiently worked his way to second. Emerling kept Hirschman within striking distance, but could not erase enough ground to challenge Hirschman for the top spot.
A late caution for Trevor Catalano’s spin in Turn 4 gave teams an opportunity to change a tire of their choice, providing both Emerling and Hirschman with some fresh rubber ahead of a sprint to the finish. It took a second restart for Emerling to get the run he needed on the top line to finally put Hirschman in his rearview mirror.
Despite taking control of the race and the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup, Emerling still faced one more challenge from Anthony Nocella in the No. 17 owned by Michelle Davini. Nocella bounced off the wall attempting to chase down Emerling, but ended up settling for a runner-up finish.
Nocella wanted to deliver a strong performance for Michele, who lost her husband and team co-owner Mike Davini earlier this year. While he would have loved to bring home a victory, Nocella was satisfied to see the team get rewarded for a weekend of strenuous work.
“It means a lot,” Nocella said. “[Michelle] wanted to keep going and let us keep racing. This is my second time out with these guys. We had a good car at Loudon and unloaded here fast all day. We had to keep the car clean and stay up there. We had one shot to move [Emerling], but I didn’t do it. We got a little too tight and he got away.”
With the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup points so tight, it was paramount for Emerling to fend off Nocella after rigorously working his way to the front all night. His triumph makes him the third different Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup champion in three years, joining Hirschman and Doug Coby.
For Emerling, capturing the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup in year one highlights how quickly Gautreau’s team has matured. Building a notebook has been a crucial part of that development, particularly when it came to perfecting the setup for Saturday’s Winchester Fair.
“We just had to execute,” Emerling said. “We knew we were going to have a good car coming into the day and were really fast the last couple of races here. There’s races where the driver doesn’t have to work as hard, but we had to work hard tonight.”
Now that they have the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup secured, Emerling and his team are turning their attention towards making a run at the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship.
Hirschman settled for third after a dominant start to the Winchester Fair. He was followed in the top five by Lutz and Woody Pitkat.
Matthew Kimball came home sixth in front of the two championship contenders, Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore, who had multiple run-ins with one another during the closing laps. Rounding out the top 10 were Tommy Catalano and Austin Beers.
Only three races remain before the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season concludes. Next up is a trip to North Wilkesboro Speedway on Saturday, October 5 for the Brushy Mountain Powersports 150, which will be broadcasted live on FloRacing at 7:30 p.m. ET.
