Patrick Emerling Wins John Blewett, III Memorial 76

Patrick Emerling's bounce-back effort at the 60th World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway continued on Wednesday, winning the John Blewett, III Memorial 76.

Emerling missed Monday's Tour-type Modified feature with an engine issue following qualifying, sidelining the 2025 World Series champion in the division. The New York native was back on track Tuesday, finishing second to Ryan Preece, before taking the victory in Wednesday's memorial race.

"We had a little tough day Monday. We weren't able to race. Yesterday, we had a solid runner-up. We were able to get notes together from yesterday and kind of make ourselves a little bit better. The track conditions were a little bit different, a lot of grip out there tonight.

"What a way to honor John Blewett. He was a heck of a racer. I'm glad that we were able to do it. Thanks to everyone involved, it's an awesome night for us."

The John Blewett, III Memorial is a yearly staple for the Modifieds during the World Series, honoring the legacy of Blewett, III since his passing while competing at Thompson Speedway in 2007.

"I wasn't racing when John was racing," said Emerling. "I've heard nothing but good, and he was a heck of a competitor. I've had the pleasure to race with [brother] Jimmy, great guy. We talk on the phone sometimes and chit-chat about everything. Just a great family, and it's just an honor to be in victory lane, honoring Jimmy."

Ronnie Williams bounced back from adversity of his own, blowing an engine during Tuesday's 60-lap feature. Williams finished second to Emerling, losing the lead on a restart and unable to capitalize on later opportunities to take the top spot back.

"He was able to take control on that restart pretty early on in the race," said Williams. "I knew I was going to have to capitalize at some point on one of those other restarts, and just never did. We were matching lap time to lap time. It is what it is.

"They're a good group of guys. They've got a lot of talent on their side. It's definitely upsetting to be one spot short, but it's also better than blowing a motor like we did last night."

For the third time in this World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, Austin Beers finished in the third position. The 2025 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion finished third in both the NWMT opener on Saturday and the Tour-type feature on Monday evening.

Beers saved his tires early on hoping to pass Emerling and Williams on a late caution, but didn't have the pace needed to make the moves late.

"I let them get away," said Beers. "I was saving a long time. I thought we were going to be really good on the restart, and then we just had no side bite in the center. Hats off to Emerling and to Ronnie. To have that big of a pace and to have that grip at the end, it was really impressive.

Burt Myers finished fourth, with Cam McDermott rounding out the top five.

The Tour-type Modifieds will race for 60 laps on Thursday, February 12 ahead of the 100-lap Richie Evans Memorial to cap off the division's World Series schedule on Friday, February 13.

-Photo: Screenshot from FloRacing Broadcast

John Blewett, III Memorial 76 Unofficial Results