Despite his youth, Patrick Emerling has made a positive impression in area racing over the last two seasons in the NASCAR Pro Modified and SST Sportsman ranks.

Now the 17-year-old Gow School senior is hoping to make everyone really stand up and take notice by winning one of this area's most prestigious events, the $2,000-to-win, 11th annual George Decker Memorial 100, Saturday at Holland NASCAR Motorsports Complex.

The event features the NASCAR Pro Modified and SST Sportsman divisions.

In his rookie campaign last season, Emerling won a regular weekly race at Holland. He also ran his first Decker Memorial last season, and it proved to be a learning experience.

"I spun out a couple of times and then got stuck behind a car that ran out of fuel so it didn't go too well," said Emerling. "We are preparing now for this year's Decker race. We got our 1999 Dayton car back together.

"We're doing everything we can to get ourselves in a good position to win the Decker race."

The team will be on a bit of a rebound after a last-place finish last Saturday at Holland; its effort was derailed by an accident with Buck Catalano.

Emerling has proven to be a very capable driver, having won three times this season at Wyoming County International Speedway. The Orchard Park drive also was victorious earlier this season at Holland but was stripped of the win in postrace tech.

"We got tossed because we had VP Race Fuels racing fuel in our car that we brought to the track with us," Emerling explained. "At Holland you need to have Sunoco fuel.

"We thought that using the VP was OK because we thought that you only were required to run Sunoco if you were going for the points championship which we are not because we don't race Holland every week."

In addition to its Troyer and Dayton built Sportsman cars, the Emerling team also obtained a new Modified this season built by former driver Mike Dayton. They are running the entire Race of Champions Dart Modified Tour along with the Modified specials at Dunn Tire Raceway Park.

"We've had the Modified out a couple times this season at Dunn Tire and also at Spencer, Oswego and Chemung," said Emerling. "The Modified is a bit different to drive. It takes getting use to. What is also very tough to learn is that Modifieds have a different tire strategy."

Emerling placed 13th out of 26 cars in the June ROC event at Dunn Tire Raceway Park and 10th out of 13 entries in a Modified show at the Lancaster track, July 10. He was 23rd in the ROC event at Chemung last Sunday.

Emerling raced Go-Karts for five years before moving up to stock cars last season. He had many wins in the class and still races indoor Go-Kart events in the winter.

He and his Mike Dayton-led team have a plan for the remainder of this campaign. "The first thing we want to do is win this Saturday's George Decker Memorial," stressed Emerling. "To win that race would be so great because the race is a big one and also Holland is our home track. Our shop is only two minutes from the track.

"Then we will concentrate on the Modified the rest of the year. We will still race at Wyoming, Holland and other tracks with our Sportsman car when we can get it on the schedule."

One hot competitor that Emerling will have to deal with in the Decker event is Mike Fiebelkorn Jr., who has won the last three NASCAR Pro Modified races at Holland this season.

Pit stops

* Dunn Tire Raceway Park will be transformed into an outdoor movie complex Saturday night when it will show the New York premier of the new movie "Red Dirt Rising", which chronicles the beginnings of stock car racing in this nation.

A concert and a cruise-in car show will be part of this night, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Raffles will be held. Tickets are $15 with kids 6 and under free. A portion of the night's proceeds will be donated to the Racing Legends Medical Fund. Those bringing a car for the cruise-in car show will pay $5 more. A meet and greet with early era driver Gary Lewellan as well as the film's makers will also be part of the festivities. Call 716-771-8475.

* Medina's Mike Stawicki won the Pro Modified class at the IHRA MOPAR Parts Canadian Nationals last weekend in Grand Bend, Ont. Local Dan Flanigan lost in the semifinals of Top Sportsman.

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