Category: Article

After a successful campaign in 2022 with a series-record nine straight podium finishes, A.J. Emms and Emms Racing are ready to get back to the track for the year ahead.

“Going into the 2023 season, we are excited to get back on the race track, some of our favourite tracks in the province,” he commented. “We’re just going to roll with it. We did our homework in the off-season, kept up with the maintaince like we usually do, and we’re just going to roll the dice and see how they play out this season with the hopes we run up front, well near the front, not only for our crew but for our sponsors. Well we know all the divisions across the province are strong and competitive, we’re hopefully going in the fold when it comes to the checkered flag.”

The season will kick off on May 27 at Flamboro Speedway, a track that has treated him well in the past with five podiums in his last six appearances, including a trip to victory lane.

“Flamboro is another one of those places that I’ve been able to spend a lot of time there, race a lot there, so I have some confidence going into that speedway with the car that we have,” he explained. “I’m hoping we can hit the nail on the head with the set-up and have some speed there. Flamboro is one of those places that can be very situational, depending where you put yourself so hopefully I can put myself in a good position to be there at the end. Flamboro is also another one of those tracks with a lot of history and I really enjoy going there for that reason. I think the nostalgia of the speedway is pretty incredible.”

Beyond this coming weekend, the summer will see the team hit a variety of tracks, including returning back to Full Throttle Motor Speedway. Emms knows his way around the bullring, as evident by being successful in a variety of divisions including the Hurricane Midgets, T.Q. Can-Am Midgets, and Pro 4 Modifieds. His last appearance there saw him pick up the victory in the 2019 Rick Woolner Memorial.

“It’s a fun track to race,” he said. “I haven’t been back there in awhile, but I am excited to get back there and see how our OSCAAR modified handles around that place. I’m excited for that, but I’m also excited for the other tracks in the province. They’ve done a great job in stepping up their facilities and making them nicer so I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the places that we go to on the schedule.”

The past season saw a lot of success for the team with nine straight podium finishes, but that has not stopped the drive to keep improving. For Ems, he says it’s all about improving the raciness, whether that’s restarts and long run speed.

“Those are things that we have to just be smarter around and make some better decisions and just keep doing small adjustments to hopefully show on the stopwatch,” he said. “Racing is one of those games of inches so we just got to get working on the wrenches game, and we cross our Ts and dot our Is and be there at the end.”

Emms went on to add that although the tagline of Mr. Consistency has stuck with pacing the record books in the form of the top-10 and career starts, the team is driven to win.

“At the same time, with a family-run modified operation, I do try to very much conserve equipment – knock on wood we’ve been able to do that,” he explained. “We are driven to win. I was taught growing up that you’re only as good as your last race. We always want to make sure that we get into victory lane so that’s the goal in the end. I don’t think that will change my driving at all. You have to be there at the end at the front to be able to do that.

“We just need to have a couple things slightly different, or have things go our way. Like I said, we have a lot of good strong competitors in the modified division and hats off to them, but we’re really pushing to get back to victory lane.”

Through any driver’s racing career, they ultimately get the chance to partake in a battle for position which becomes memorable. For A.J. Emms, there’s been plenty through the years, dating back from when he started in go-karts, all the way through the Pro 4 Modifieds and now.

“When I think back over the years, one of the ones most people wouldn’t think of would be racing Pro 4 Modifieds at Varney Motor Speedway and racing against Cliff Hodgkinson,” he commented. “Cliff Hodgkinson, in my opinion, is a very underrated racecar driver, and does a lot of really good things right. I do recall one event where we were back-and-forth, back-and-forth battling. That really helped me refine my skills and get me better. So that was one that I remember back to.

“I’ve had some battles with a lot of people in the OSCAAR Modified division over the years as well that were memorable. Battles with Gary McLean, battles with Andy Kamrath at Sunset Speedway a few years ago. There’s been some hard battles, some bumps and bruises along the way, but at the same time, all those experiences I look back as fond memories and try to learn from them and try to get better from those experiences. “

Emms will hope to add several more to the list this coming season, as he gets ready for his eighth season behind the wheel of a modified. Everything will kick off beginning at Sunset Speedway’s Spring Velocity on May 21 and 22.

Going into the year, the driver of the No. 14 says while you should expect to see the same competitors at the front of the field, there are a lot of unknowns.

“Last year, a lot of teams showed strength towards the end,” he commented. “So I feel although things will stay the same, you never really know. I look forward to battling it out with great competitors through the modified division. As a team, we’re just looking to cross our Ts and dot our Is and ensure we’re bringing the best racecar we can every week, and minimizing mistakes and having some fun.”

Just like past seasons, the goal is simple for 2022 – get to victory lane, as much as possible throughout the summer months. That’s why he’s focused on minimizing mistakes, whether in preparations before the weekend at the shop, or on the race track through the course of the weekend.

“I think with our off-season preparation, we’re hoping some of that preparation will help to transfer to success on the race track,” he explained. “I think other things we need to do is sticking with our notes, and like I said, putting ourselves in the right position to succeed on and off the race track. Specifically, it’s hard to pin point one area. For me, racing is a game of small gains which equal something bigger, and I think all those small areas, we just need to get a little better and it’ll show on the race track. I’m hoping we’ve done that with our off-season preparation so now we just need to go and execute.”

The 2022 schedule for the OSCAAR Modifieds is set to crisscross the province, allowing an opportunity to experience a bit of everything. For Emms, though, a pair of previous victories at Flamboro Speedway, combined with the track’s own history as they celebrate 50 years of racing, has him looking forward to the two events at the Millgrove, Ontario oval. Perhaps redemption is on the mind, as he failed to score a top-five there last year after getting stuck in the outside lane at the beginning of the event.

“I’m also looking forward to hitting up all the tracks in Ontario,” he added. “One track I obviously miss is Full Throttle Motor Speedway, and Jukasa Motor Speedway – both those are ones that I really enjoy, but at the same time, I think going to each track, I think we will put ourselves in position to run up front. So really, every race track is one to we want to get to and get out there and try to contend.”

Ultimately, being up front is the name of the game for 2022 and hopefully avoiding the other side of the sport – a wreck. It’s something Emms knows about, with having experienced the most dramatic wreck of last season at Sunset Speedway after contact from Jason Keen.

“That would be one of the craziest ones (wrecks) especially since I was leaving on my honeymoon that night from the race track,” he reflected. “It had to be one of the craziest ones just because I didn’t feel there was a need for it – at all. In addition to that, another accident would be wrecking at Delaware Speedway with Jeff Showler. That was another hard hit that was unexpected – just a racing incident. That was another tough one, and I guess over the years I’ve had some rolls an some flips in different midgets that I’ve driven in the past. There were some pretty hard hits in the past.

“When you do it as long as I’ve had – although I’m fairly young, I’ve done this for a long time and been a part of the sport for a long time – it’s bound to happen. So unfortunately that’s just the name of the game.”

Emms Racing is proud to be supported by BAE Environmental, Bromley Automotive, TL Tire, FMR Scrap Buyers & Recyclers, Speedy Glass Orillia, Klotz Canada, Creecher’s Designs, TSS Top Shops, Peter Built Racecars, and Short Track Musings for the 2022 campaign.

Fans are encouraged to stay tuned to the Emms Racing website at http://www.ajemms.com, as well as the team’s facebook page via https://www.facebook.com/ajemmsracing/.

By: Ashley McCubbin/AM Marketing – ashleymccubbin17@gmail.com

With having spent over 20 years behind the wheel of a racecar, there has been a lot of checkered flags and championships along the way for A.J. Emms. Though reflecting back to when he started, it wasn’t always thought the road would take him to where he is today.

For each driver behind the wheel, the want to drive comes from being a fan of the sport first, which Emms is included among those in having attended several events through the years.

For him, the coolest highlight was heading down to Pennscola, Florida for the Snowball Derby at 5 Flags Speedway. the trip stood out in seeing the technology utilized in the sport, the money being spent, and the amount of talent the marquee event draws.

“In addition to that, the World Series at Thompson Speedway is another one that comes to mind as a very cool event that I’ve been able to go to,” he added. “Thompson is a historic race track with a lot of cool, even NASCAR history, at it. It was cool to be a part of that event, and even watch. I would say the third one I thought was really cool was going to Jukasa and seeing the $75,000 to win. I thought that was really cool event on Canadian soil that brought out a lot of really strong competitors at a beautiful facility.

“So when I think back, I think of those three events as some of the coolest and I guess you can’t really knock down Autumn Colours Classic as a crown jewel event in Ontario and one that’s always action-packed.”

With a passion for the sport engrained within and his father Jeff Emms (pictured right) involved in racing, the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a go-kart came at a young age. Although it started out as having fun, it quickly grew into a multitude of success along the way with over 50 plus wins, five championships, and the 2007 Canadian National Go-Kart Championship.

The success came from being surrounded by great people, including Lon Herder who runs Karts and Parts out of Stoufville.

“He really drove home the emphasis of minimizing mistakes on the race track, consistency, and never being satisfied, and always trying to improve yourself,” Emms commented. “Lon also taught me how to really reflect on my driving to pull out the successes to focus on the next steps, and how we can get better on those next steps. I think for me go-karting was well at teaching me to minimize mistakes, but also gave me a lot of race sense which some of my competitors may disagree I have sometimes.

“But I feel like go-karting helped support what I have, and also really gave me a good ability to be smooth with a racecar, which I hope I do well.”

While it produced a lot of lessons that still hold true in his career, there are other fond memories cherished from that time.

“I spent a lot of weekends racing both Saturday and Sunday with my dad and then going to the stock car races on Saturday night,” he recalled. “So my fondest memories from go-karting are those times that my dad and I spent camping out, just him and I, in a trailer racing on Saturdays at Goodwood Kartways, going to the stock car races on Saturday nights, and then driving over to race Mosport on Sundays.

“So that’s some of my best memories and those are some of the times that I’ve raced against really great drivers, who have then turned into great stock car drivers and great road course racers in Formula cars. Looking back, those memories were great, and of course running at Shannonville Motorsports Park and capture a bear which is a coveted trophy in go-karting is another thing that comes to me as a big accomplishment.”

From there, he was able to work his way up through the racing ladder, including victories in Hurricane Midgets for Mike Westwood. He then got behind the wheel of a Pro 4 Modified for Cliff Hodgkinson and Westwood, which produced wins and a championship in 2014.

The opportunity to move up to the OSCAAR Modifieds came in 2015, through a partnership with Allen Adams and ADAMS Motorsports. The following year, Emms branched out on his own, with him and his father buying a car together.  Over the past six seasons, the success has come with victories in both the Autumn Colours Classic and Rick Woolner Memorial, as well as a championship in 2019.

While the Modified is fun to drive and race now, it has been a fun road with great cars to drive to get to this point. As Emms pointed out, the T.Q. Can-Am Midget is “one of the funnest cars to drive.”

“At the same time, racing it was fun, but I always more enjoyed driving them,” he added. “I obviously both enjoy driving and racing my OSCAAR Modified. Another car that comes to mind is the Pro 4 Modified, driving a Stryker Chassis for Mike Westwood and Cliff Hodgkinson was a great opportunity, was a lot of fun. The car handled great, and we had some success with it. that was a lot of fun for me. I have enjoyed driving a lot of different things over the year, and each is unique, and I have been able to learn driving everything.

“But I would have to say reflecting back, the three-quarter midgets, Pro 4 Modified – they’re light, they’re quick, feel like a sportscar and that’s what I like.”

Having fun behind the wheel of something that is fast should come as no surprise, considering he has dreams of wanting to get behind the wheel of a Super Late Model. The aspirations go back to when he was younger, watching the likes of John Fletcher Jr. and Glenn Watson.

“I think that they’re a badass machine and I would love to get the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one,” he said. “I think I could do well in it. They’re very similar to my modified, just with a lot more horsepower. I think it’d just be a dream come true to drive one, and drive a competitive one. That’s kind of something that I would love. Whether it happens or not, we will see, but my aspirations are there.”

It’d certainly be great to see a dream come true, but no matter what happens, it’s safe to say where he has ended up now is a lot further than he could have envisioned back in the beginning years racing go-karts.

“During that time, we were just barely able to afford racing go-karts,” Emms reflected. “My dad sacrificed a lot for me to race go-karts. My dad not only sacrificed a lot of time, but a lot of money, and he did a lot of things for me to not only support my career, but to spend time with me. At that time in my life, I didn’t even know if I’d be able to race go-karts the next year, I didn’t even know if I would be able to race a stock car.

“When I got the opportunity to race with my dad and Mike Westwood to race Hurricane Midgets, I thought that could be it. When I got an opportunity with Cliff Hodgkinson and the Pro 4 Modifieds, I thought that was the furthest I could go. Allan Adams is the same sort of opportunity, and it’s been a real pleasure to be buy a car with my dad and co-own it together, and do it all together, because it’s something that both of us look back on and can’t believe we’ve made it here, just because of the financial stress we’ve been through in the past with racing, and not only that, just the years of commitment and learning.

“It’s been a great process of learning, and reflecting back on that, it’s something that we’re both proud of. Although my dad raced stock cars, nothing is given, and it wasn’t like I was going to do it. We didn’t ever think that was going to be within reach, and I’m very thankful for each and every opportunity to jump in a racecar.

“I think that’s one reason I put a lot of pressure on myself because I know that you can go from hero to zero in no time and like Don Biederman used to say, you’re only as good as your last race. I always take that to heart. I try to race every one like it’s my last.”

Stay tuned for the 2022 season preview article later on this week as we head into Spring Velocity at Sunset Speedway.

Emms Racing is proud to be supported by BAE Environmental, Bromley Automotive, TL Tire, FMR Scrap Buyers & Recyclers, Speedy Glass Orillia, Klotz Canada, Creecher’s Designs, TSS Top Shops, Peter Built Racecars, and Short Track Musings for the 2022 campaign.

Fans are encouraged to stay tuned to the Emms Racing website at http://www.ajemms.com, as well as the team’s facebook page via https://www.facebook.com/ajemmsracing/.

By: Ashley McCubbin/AM Marketing – ashleymccubbin17@gmail.com

Despite some rocky moments throughout the 2021 Queenston Chevrolet Buick GMC OSCAAR Modifieds presented by Just Foam It season, consistency ultimately led A.J. Emms to a fourth-place in the year-end series standings.

Ultimately, the year started off with the most memorable moment of the season in a whirlwind of a season opener. After getting married on Saturday, Emms elected to have Taylor Holdaway behind the wheel for qualifying at Sunset Speedway. Holdaway was able to get the job done, scoring a heat victory and runner-up.

Emms would get to the track prior to the start of the feature, getting behind the wheel of the modified – though having to start from the tail of the field due to the driver change. The climb to the front came quickly, though, as he put himself inside the top-five with 20 laps to go and was able to capitalize late to score the victory.

Read the full season recap on the OSCAAR website at https://oscaar.ca/2022/01/15/4th-in-queenston-chevrolet-buick-gmc-oscaar-modified-points-a-j-emms/. 

 

A pair of heat wins. Six Heat Top-Five’s.

A feature victory. Four Top-Five’s. Six Top-10’s.

Despite some trying times throughout the course of the 2021 Queenston Chevrolet Buick GMC OSCAAR Modifieds presented by Just Foam It season, the consistency for Emms Racing led them to a solid top-five finish in the final standings.

“Overall with the year, I felt we had a roller coaster season with some really good highs like the first race at Sunset Speedway, and some pretty good lows with an accident also at Sunset Speedway in a heat race,” A.J. Emms commented. “That’s just a testament to a difficult year of racing. It really speaks to how racing can be such a humbling sport.

“I think we learned a lot this season although we struggled. We try to learn a little each year and hopefully we’re able to put some of that learning this off-season into use and try to find a little bit more speed.”

Ultimately, the year started off with the most memorable moment of the season in a whirlwind of a season opener. After getting married on Saturday, Emms elected to have Taylor Holdaway behind the wheel for qualifying at Sunset Speedway. Holdaway was able to get the job done, scoring a heat victory and runner-up.

Emms would get to the track prior to the start of the feature, getting behind the wheel of the modified – though having to start from the tail of the field due to the driver change. The climb to the front came quickly, though, as he put himself inside the top-five with 20 laps to go and was able to capitalize late to score the victory.

“He’s been a childhood friend of mine,” Emms spoke of Holdaway. “He’s a guy that I grew up a couple blocks from, we raced go-karts against each other, we go to Bristol, Tennessee each year together, and spent a lot of time together growing up racing, and it was really special for me to have him in the car.

“He did a great job when I wasn’t there for my heat races and then getting the car dialed in so we could start last and make it up to the front for the win. It has to be one of the most memorable moments of the year, if not my racing career.

“Another memorable moment would be getting put into the wall pretty blatantly in a heat race and destroying the car. That’s one that I definitely won’t forget moving forward.”

Returning back to Sunset Speedway two weeks later, the second heat event would not go according to plan. Battling for the runner-up spot in the early stages, Emms was pushed against the outside frontstretch wall, ultimately forcing him up on two wheels and stuck on the wall.

Despite the heavy damage to the car, the team did not give up in the face of adversity, making the necessary repairs – with help from others, to get the car back out for the feature. Starting from the tail of the field, Emms was able to make his way back through for a 10^th-place finish.

“For me, I have such confidence in our team and the people that we have around us,” Emms commented. “I’m very thankful to have my dad working so hard on the car in terms of preparation. Ryan Ward, Peter Schotanus, Josh Lahay – everybody that puts in work to the car, I have confidence in them and know that they’re going to bring each and everything they can to the races every week and in doing so, it was great to see us rebound just to affirm some of those feelings.

“But definitely after the heat race woes at Sunset Speedway, I was incredibly proud of our team and all the people that came to help us out to get the car back together to get out on the race track. And with a green to checkered race, I thought it was very impressive to come from last even still with a bent-up racecar and finish 10^th, especially with the field as stacked as it is.

“Like I said, I have a lot of confidence in the team and it was really positive to see the resiliency.”

The middle four races of the season ultimately kept the roller coaster feel going, as there were some positives, as well as a couple lows. A fifth-place finish at Sauble Speedway and a third-place finish at Delaware Speedway were ultimately countered with a 20^th at Sunset Speedway following contact on Lap 1, and eighth at Flamboro Speedway after getting stuck on the outside to start.

The year would end off on a good note, though, as Emms scored a heat victory before running inside the top-four all feature long at the Autumn Colours Classic en route to a third-place finish.

“It was good to end the year at Autumn Colours with a third-place finish, especially with how competitive the OSCAAR Modified division is and not only a field stacked with great drivers, but also a field full of great cars,” he commented. “That third-place finish will help carry momentum into next year, and confidence in running up front most of the race. Ultimately, hopefully like I said, moving forward, we can minimize our mistakes not only on my driving end, but on the mechanical end so we can continue to be fast next season.”

Looking back over the course of the season, Emms says it emphasized the importance of having everything together. While some weeks they were great handling-wise, you need to also have the rest of the package to go with that.

“Honestly, the division now is so tight; like, you really need to have a car that’s going to be able to do everything and handle at all different tracks, especially with how our invert works now,” he explained. “You have to have that whole package so you can pass cars and try to get closer to the front especially when there’s fast cars starting at the front. So it’s really getting back to crossing all of our Ts and dotting all of our Is, and not that we weren’t doing that before, but we also have to step it up a little bit just because the competition is also doing that.

“I think it also helps with having a lot of great names in the division now, like Brian MacDonald is at the track working on cars, and you see Hanleys working on the car. You see so many great people that have a lot of great knowledge in our garage area so that just tells us that we need to everything that we can to be there each and every week.”

Emms Racing is proud to be supported by BAE Environmental, FMR Scrap Buyers and Recyclers, TL Tire, Klotz Canada, Speedy Glass Orillia, Mike Westwood Fabrications, Peter Built Racecars and Short Track Musings.

Fans are encouraged to stay tuned to the Emms Racing website at http://www.ajemms.com, as well as the team’s facebook page via https://www.facebook.com/ajemmsracing/.

By: Ashley McCubbin / AM Marketing – ashleymccubbin17@gmail.com.

For A.J. Emms, racing is something that has always been a part of his life, met with summers filled with competition from the age of six. As he says, “I’ve never not been racing; I only know what it’s like to race and only know what it’s like to go to the track every weekend in the summer.”

So coming off a shortened season that seen some success, it’s not surprising he’s one of many Queenston Chevrolet Buick GMC OSCAAR Modified drivers excited about getting back to the track.

“I think it’s going to be a really strong year for the OSCAAR Modified division with a lot of good talent coming in and a lot of great racecars,” he said. “I think the competition will be the highest been in the series, and I know for us, and our entire team, we’re working at making sure we’re competitive this year. We’ve done a lot of work this off-season, like everybody else has, to make sure our car is prepared and be up to the task of competing.

“I think last year we learned a lot and were able to try some different things with the shortened season and not having points, and we’re hoping we can take some of the things that we learned last year and implement them. Hopefully we’re up for the challenge and I’m excited to just get back in the racecar and turn some laps.”

Read the full interview on the OSCAAR website.

Throughout the past eight years, four different drivers have been able to call themselves a Queenston Chverolet Buick GMC OSCAAR Modified presented by Scott Reinhart Trailer Sales Ltd., The Fyre Place & Patio Shop, and Touchwood Cabinets Champion.

One of those being your 2019 title holder, A.J. Emms

Read the latest feature as part of OSCAAR’s 30th Anniversary series featuring our driver by clicking here.

With the current phase of reopening for the province and tracks remaining closed to competition, the 2020 OSCAAR season opener has been tentatively scheduled for July.

As of Friday May 15, the first five original dates on the schedule have been cancelled for the time being. There is a chance of the June 6 event at Jukasa Motor Speedway could possibly be ran later on this summer, as well as the Knightworks Design OSCAAR Hot Rods presented by Sauble Falls Tent and Trailer Park being added to the August 15 date at Delaware Speedway.

Read the latest update from OSCAAR on the COVID-19 situation by clicking here.