Emerling Clinches First Whelen Modified Tour Title as Hodgdon Wins Thompson Finale

Sixteen years of persistence finally paid off for Patrick Emerling on Saturday night at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, where the 33-year-old clinched his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship with a third-place finish in the Sunoco World Series 150 season finale.

Emerling, who pilots the No. 1 USNE Power modified for owner David Miller and crew chief Dale Hedquist, closed the season 36 points clear of 2025 champion Austin Beers. He seized the points lead after the eighth race at Claremont in July and never surrendered it, pacing the series in wins (five), top-fives (11), top-10s (14) and laps led (a career-best 694).

The race itself belonged to rookie Teddy Hodgdon IV, who capped his Rookie of the Year campaign in style. Starting ninth, Hodgdon stalked Emerling through the second half, grabbed the lead on lap 117 and drove away to his second win of the season — by 5.442 seconds over Matt Hirschman — in a race that ran green to checkered.

"It was super similar to Stafford," Hodgdon said. "Our car stayed the same, and everyone else kind of fell off. We're going to be a force next year. Watch out."

Emerling, on the tour in some capacity since his 2011 debut at age 18, finally joins the series' championship roll of honor. "This USNE Power No. 1 team didn't miss a beat all year. I'm speechless," he said. Paulie Hartwig III earned his first career pole (19.319 seconds); Hirschman, Mike Christopher Jr. and Matt Swanson completed the top five.