Tyler Emory’s emergence from a middling racer in the Northeast to runaway champion of Appalachian Mountain Speedweek is one of the swiftest rises to fame in the recent history of Dirt Late Model racing.

Compared to the sport’s highest honors, namely a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series or World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series touring championship, an Appalachian Mountain Speedweek title doesn’t pack the strongest punch beyond the Mid-Atlantic.

But for those in the know about the talented AMS drivers? Winning a championship that national touring standouts Tim McCreadie, Josh Richards and Rick Eckert once did is unfathomable to Emory who at the beginning of May was a relatively unknown winless Super Late Model racer.

“Honestly … I don’t know … I can’t even put it into words,” the 30-year-old Emory said. "Just some of those names you’ve said. I’d be happy just to race with those guys, much less race eight races at one time in a week. And be good enough to win the championship? As I said, we’ve worked hard, and fortunately it shows. I mean, I couldn’t do it without everybody on this deal. It’s a whole lot more than me. … It really hasn’t set in.”

The King George, Va., native entered the 10-day miniseries as a long-shot contender when stacked up against former AMS champs Satterlee, Jeff Rine and Eckert along with Drake Troutman, Eddie Carrier Jr., Jason Covert and Kyle Hardy, among others. Entering the miniseries, Emory’s only Super victory on his resume came against a modest field May 13 at Marion Center (Pa.) Raceway. Even when Emory led miniseries points after the third of eight scheduled events at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway, his title odds were still relatively slim.

In winning at Hagerstown, Satterlee appeared poised for a second miniseries championship in cutting Emory’s lead to 32 points while the young driver, meanwhile, stewed over costly mistakes that allowed Satterlee to get to the front.

“I floundered … I messed up getting into (turn) one two laps in a row, and they went right on by me like I was standing still,” Emory said then of the mistake that thwarted him out of the lead battle in Hagerstown’s final laps. “We were better than where we finished.”

Was that Emory’s biggest error of the year?

“Hands down … I mean, that was a huge mistake,” Emory said. “I’m pretty honest on how this stuff works. It’s the only way to get better.”

Biggest error the last two years even?

“Oh yeah, hands down,” Emory said. “Absolutely dumb.”

But the next three races, Emory went from playing defense to a full-blown offensive attack, building a large enough points lead after inheriting Saturday’s victory at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., to virtually clinch the title over Satterlee with Sunday’s finale left to go.

“Ten years ago, when I first started racing a Limited, I had no chance at trying to do this,” Emory said. “Much less run this … much less win it.”

While Emory's Super Late Model credentials were thin, his sudden rise shouldn’t be viewed on the same level of a Cinderella college basketball team making an unheralded run in March Madness. Emory’s Cameron-Mann Motorsports of Chaptico, Md., is an established team.

Pete Cameron has been in the motorsports business for more than 30 years and the No. 72 Rocket Chassis he co-owns with Roland and Lisa Mann is a top-tier ride in the Northeast. One of the region’s fiercest racers, Jason Covert, upheld the ride’s top-tier status for the last nine years through last season. But Emory is no longer in Covert’s shadow and knows it’s now largely on him to either sink or swim in the deep waters of high-level Dirt Late Model racing.

"It was nice being in Jason’s shadow, especially the first year,” Emory said. “I was just being dragged along. If we did well, we did well. If not, that was OK. It was cool. I got to learn a lot last year. … There’s no pressure that way. It was really nice. We worked super hard last year to keep two Supers full-time and take (my fiancee Megan Mann) racing whenever we could.”

So, how has Emory emerged from a winless second-year driver at Dirt Late Model’s premier level to a regional champion in six weeks? The team, while they’ve always had the equipment, has surrounded Emory with the supporting cast they’ve missed in recent years.

Joe Chamberlain, a 45-year-old journeyman mechanic who formerly worked for Michael Waltrip’s NASCAR Busch Grand National Series team in the late 1990s, has taken a lot of the regular maintenance off Emory’s plate so he can focus on perfecting his driving craft and other speciality items such as shocks.

Recent high school graduate Casey Alvey, 18, is another beneficial addition to the team. The Roselle family of Danny, Mike and Rick, as well as Megan’s sister Kristen Mann, maintain the team’s motorhome. Megan serves as Emory’s crew chief. Emory sees each role necessary to his success because he’s aware of the sport's hurdles.

“All I can do is thank everybody that helps me do this … I’m happy. I’m happy for everybody,” Emory said. “It may not seem like it because I’m shocked. To come run this, Satterlee is top-notch … (Rick) Eckert (too). There’s 20 top-notch cars here every night that can win. It’s just amazing. I don’t know what else to say.”

The team’s efficiency that Emory speaks highly of paid major dividends from the outset each night. Emory qualified for six of the seven fast-car dashes throughout the week and the only dash he missed was June 13’s washout at Path Valley Speedway Park in Spring Run, Pa.

More impressively, he captured three fast-time awards and started on the front row of four features. Emory never started worse than sixth all week and after June 9’s opening night at Clinton County Speedway, he never started worse than third, the very place he started June 10’s feature at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway.

“It’s been weird because normally I’m not that great in qualifying,” Emory said. “I don’t know if it’s because you get two laps in front of everybody, and you get nervous and mess up. Now, I don’t get nervous. That might be some of it. When you get the jitters worked out. It’s nice being fast, but sometimes expectations are a little rough. I try not to let it get to me too much. It’s nice unloading and knowing we’re a competitive car.”

Take Emory’s previous two starts at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway as the best measuring stick for Emory’s growth over the last year. In October’s Keystone Cup — the half-mile’s richest event at $22,000-to-win that drew 34 cars with interlopers Chris Ferguson and Garrett Smith joining the region's best drivers — Emory finished a lap down in 18th.

In his AMS victory at Port Royal, Emory looked like a completely different driver, pulling away from round-three miniseries winner Michael Norris and Keystone Cup victor Jeff Rine, who said this about Emory: “He’s been on fire all week and all year. He came down and asked what tires to run and I suggested a couple. He said the reason I’m so fast at Bedford is because I lapped him in (last season’s) Keystone Cup and watched my line. I kind of wished I didn’t lap him.”

Emory’s mentor, Covert, also put the young driver’s growth and Appalachian Mountain Speedweek title into context.

“Tyler did a fantastic job. He deserves everything,” said Covert, who returned to the Klinedinst family team this season and won the AMS opener at Clinton County Speedway. “That whole team did a really, really great job. … They earned it. They did the work and earned it. ... They still had to do it. I think I hopefully showed them a little bit of the way.

“Now he can mark it down he’s the Speedweek champion and he’s won big races. That helps you when he goes to (December’s) PRI (Trade Show in Indianapolis). You can get support from companies that have a product that can help you. And if you have an issue, you can get help. It can get you recognized and helps build his career.”

While Covert is among the region's best drivers over the last 20 seasons, he's never won an Appalachian Mountain Speedweek title. He finished second to McCreadie ('14) and Rine ('17) but a miniseries championship is one of the few regional accolades missing from Covert’s long list of accomplishments. Emory receives a first-hand history lesson of Covert’s success nearly every day he’s in the race shop.

“You talk about pressure and taking over for Jason,” Emory said. “I get to go in the race shop every week with, I don’t know, 10 checks with Dave (Williams’) name on them and 30 checks with Jason’s name on them. I get to walk into a shop and see that clearly they were very successful. That’s a little bit of pressure I probably put on myself more than anything.

“When Jim (Bernheisel) put this (miniseries) together, we wanted to run good. But this is a tough deal,” Emory added. “I’ve put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself because we have been running well. We ran well last year, I just didn’t make good choices. This year I’ve made better choices and we went testing a few times. I’m comfortable and it shows.”

Emory’s definition of testing doesn’t mean some practice session at a racetrack during the middle of the week. Emory, who Cameron says is “obsessed with shocks,” a different package every race leading into the miniseries to gather as much information as possible.

“We haven’t had the car the same way each time I hit the track … we’ve been testing because you have to try stuff otherwise you fall behind,” Emory said. “It feels like we’ve raced 100 times already even though it’s only been 15.

“That makes coming to these tracks confident in your choices,” Emory added. “That’s half the battle. You have to go test. You have to figure out what you want and don’t want, and then you have to be confident in your choices. We go to a weekly show and do we want to win it? Absolutely. That’s the plan. We looked so hard at Appalachian Speedweek I was able to convince Pete to really let me test before this deal.

“This is the most I’ve ever raced in a short period. We’ve loved it. It’s been fun. It definitely puts it into perspective the guys that do this for a living. I have quite a bit of respect for them they are able to do that. It has to be tough. Everyone always wants to live the dream, right? But that’s a grind.”

And asked what he’s looking forward to next, Emory said he wanted "to go home and sleep in my own bed. I don’t want to sleep in my toter bed anymore.”

Regarding his racing goals, Emory is focused on winning another title as the points leader of the Jay’s Automotive United Late Model Series, one of the few Northeast-based Super Late Model tours. Beyond that, Emory's maintaining a modest view of himself, not thinking overly high of his talents or looking to add the sport's biggest races to the team's schedule too quickly. Other drivers, however, suggest differently.

“Satterlee asked me if we were going to the Firecracker (100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.,) next weekend. I said, I don’t think I belong there," Emory said. "Satterlee said, ‘Well, I think you need reconsider that.’ ”