After coming close throughout the season, everything came together for A.J. Emms as he scored his first career feature victory in the Autumn Colours Classic at Peterborough Speedway.
Emms started off the weekend on a great note, winning his first qualifying heat, followed by a third place finish in his second heat.
Come Sunday for the feature, he started the 50-lap affair in the ninth position. He quickly began making his way towards the front, moving into the sixth position on Lap 6. He remained here till the first caution flew at Lap 10 for a spin deep in the back.
Emms got a good restart, remaining sixth as of Lap 13, till he was able to pass Gary Elliott for fifth at Lap 24 before the second caution flew for a spin on the backstretch. Emms kept working his way forward, getting a good restart to move up into the third position.
He remained second till Lap 37, when he slipped back to fifth through the course of some green flag racing. The sophomore driver didn’t give up, moving back up to third on the restart, followed by moving up to second under caution when the leader ran into problems.
Emms got a good restart and escaped the mayhem all around him to put the No. 14 Sunshine Super Wash – Orillia, Davenport Subaru, Creecher’s Design, Klotz Canada, Artech Promotional Wear – Orillia, Bromley Automotive, and TSS Top Shops – Barrie Modified out front with 10 laps to go.
Emms got a pair of good restarts to close out the race, picking up the race victory ahead of Robert Warnes and Brent McLean.
“The competition out there was so stiff,” he said in victory lane. “We were able to persevere. I knew it was going to be a race of getting to the end as it’s the Autumn Colours Classic, a lot of stuff happens. I have to thank my team, my dad for helping me out, and all my sponsors.”
Emms said the key to victory was saving tires throughout the 50-lap feature.
“You know there’s going to be lots of cautions here and I really wanted to save tires,” he said. “I knew that 8 car was tough if I was going to get here, and we were lucky enough to pull it down in victory lane.”
The victory allows Emms to move forward in the OSCAAR Race for the Cup, now entering Flamboro Speedway’s Frostoberfest with a one-in-three shot at the OSCAAR Modified Championship against John Harper and Gary McLean. Whoever finishes the highest of these three drivers at Flamboro will be the champion.
Emms will now look to have a solid weekend at Flamboro Speedway this weekend on Saturday, Oct 14. Emms had a strong run at Flamboro earlier this year, posting a pair of podium finishes.
Emms and team thank Sunshine Super Wash – Orillia, Davenport Subaru, Creecher’s Design, Klotz Canada, Artech Promotional Wear – Orillia, Bromley Automotive, and TSS Top Shops – Barrie for the support.
Fans can keep up with A.J. Emms all year by visiting his website at http://www.ajemms.com. You can also follow Emms on twitter via http://www.twitter.com/ajemms.
Press Release by Ashley McCubbin/AM Marketing – ashleymccubbin17@gmail.com.
