2026 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Patrick Emerling will not be competing in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the driver confirmed in a social media post on Friday.

Emerling, who was originally scheduled to get behind the wheel of the No. 38 FIRMAN Fire Equipment Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RSS Racing, will instead stay home this weekend, as his family is expecting a new addition, likely this weekend.

The post reads…  “Just wanted to provide an update about this weekend’s O’Reilly event at Homestead,” The social media post reads. “My family and I are expecting a new addition, likely this weekend. What that, I have decided to step out of the car and stay home with them. I love racing, but family comes first.”

Saturday’s event at Homestead was scheduled to be the sixth O’Reilly Auto Parts Series appearance of the year for Emerling with RSS Racing, having run Daytona, Talladega, Pocono, Talladega-2, and Martinsville behind the wheel of the organization’s third entry. Emerling had a best finish this season of 13th at Daytona.

RSS Racing has not confirmed who will drive the No. 38 Ford this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR’s Team Roster Portal still has Emerling, a native of Orchard Park, New York, listed as the driver of the No. 38 for Saturday’s event.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series practice from Homestead is scheduled to go green at 4:00 PM ET. Qualifying for the season-finale will take place at 1:00 PM ET on Saturday, with the event later that afternoon at 5:00 PM ET on The CW.