Patrick Emerling ready to double dip with NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Xfinity Series at Richmond

Patrick Emerling is going to be a very busy man this weekend at Richmond Raceway.

Emerling, the co-owner of Emerling-Gase Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, will be racing in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race — the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 — on Friday. On Saturday, he‘ll shift his attention to the NASCAR Xfinity Series and pilot the No. 53 Chevrolet he co-owns with Joey Gase in the ToyotaCare 250.

He‘s the only driver competing in both events.

RELATED: Watch the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 on FloRacing at 6:30 p.m. ET

“It‘s not really that tough of a transition,” Emerling said of switching from a Modified to an Xfinity Series car on consecutive days. “The more I have an opportunity to drive the Xfinity cars, the more I can figure them out a little bit.

“It‘s not that one car is harder than the other to drive, they‘re slightly different skill sets, I believe.”

This won‘t be the first time Emerling has pulled double duty with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Xfinity Series. He‘s done it multiple times, including in 2021, when he raced in both divisions at Richmond on consecutive days.

When it comes to competing at Richmond, Emerling compared racing on the track‘s surface to racing on ice due to the lack of grip provided by the asphalt surface. He believes that‘s where his years racing a Modified will benefit him the most.

“It kind of feels like you‘re driving on ice shortly into the run,” Emerling said. “I feel like in the Xfinity cars the tires fall off and they stay falling off, whereas the Modified tires will keep on dropping off a cliff until you‘re spinning out.

“It takes a lot of finesse. In the Modified that‘s one of my stronger suits. It‘s one of those tracks where you definitely have to finesse the car around, easy on and off the gas. You‘ve got to utilize throttle control.”

Emerling‘s luck at Richmond has, thus far, been lackluster with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

In 2021, Emerling qualified second at Richmond, but a broken panhard bar relegated him to a 25th-place finish. Last year he fell out of the race early following a flat tire and subsequent crash.

This time around he believes he‘ll be among the contenders at the front of the field Friday evening when he battles drivers like Jon McKennedy, Ron Silk, Doug Coby, Justin Bonsignore, Ryan Newman and Bobby Labonte, among others.

“As far as expectations, with the Modified we‘re planning on being in contention to win,” Emerling said. “With the Xfinity car, we just want to have a solid points day and try to beat the cars we‘re trying to race in points.”