The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has just five races left until a champion is crowned, and the first of those final five races takes place this Saturday night at the “Steel Palace” of Oswego Speedway in Oswego, New York. And five drivers head to Oswego with a potential championship within reach.

Leading the points entering Saturday’s race by 10 markers is Northampton, Pennsylvania’s Austin Beers. Beers led the most laps the last time out at Richmond Raceway before finishing second to extend his lead in the standings. Beers has seen improvement in his NWMT finishes at Oswego over the last few years as well. His first two trips to Oswego saw him finishing outside the top 10 each time, but Beers hasn’t finished worse than fifth in his most recent two NWMT races there.

Trailing Beers by 10 points is the four-time and defending champion, Justin Bonsignore. The Holtsville, New York native has had plenty of success at Oswego over the last nine years, with two of his trips to the Steel Palace resulting in trips to victory lane. In eight of his nine starts there, Bonsignore has finished no worse than sixth. The only outlier was a crash in 2023 while racing inside the top five. But, Bonsignore is 10 points back of Beers due to a seventh-place finish at Richmond last race, which was an uncharacteristic finish for Bonsignore at one of his best race tracks. And that’s after he finished eighth at Thompson, which arguably is his best track on the schedule. So the question entering Saturday’s race at Oswego is which No. 51 car will we see? The good thing, though, for Bonsignore is that the final five tracks are all places where he has visited victory lane throughout his illustrious career.

When the season started, it appeared that Patrick Emerling might run away with the championship this year, which would be his first in NWMT competition. He drove from the back to the front to win the season-opener at New Smyrna Speedway. He drove from the back to the front to finish second at Thompson Speedway one race later. But then he crashed at North Wilkesboro and he’s been fighting an uphill battle ever since. Just five races ago, Beers won at Lancaster Motorplex. Emerling finished second. And yet he still found himself 35 points behind Beers. But since then, Emerling has gained 13 points on Beers and is now just 22 points back entering Oswego where Emerling went to victory lane one year ago. 

Tied for fourth in points are Craig Lutz and Matt Hirschman, who both find themselves 30 points back of Beers entering Saturday’s 150-lap showdown at Oswego Speedway.

Lutz enters Saturday’s race with plenty of momentum as he’s fresh off a victory at Richmond Raceway. With now two wins on the season, Lutz has already tied his career high for wins in a single season with five races remaining on the schedule. But, Oswego has not been all that kind to Lutz throughout his career. He has just two top five finishes in eight starts there, with his best finish of third coming three years ago.

The opposite can be said for Hirschman, who has done just about everything to claim ownership at Oswego Speedway aside from signing his name on the title. In seven NWMT starts, Hirschman has gone to victory lane twice and has never finished outside the top five. In six of those starts, Hirschman has finished no worse than second. And that’s just in NASCAR competition. According to TheThirdTurn.com, Hirchman has visited victory lane at Oswego 13 total times between NWMT and the Race of Champions Asphalt Modified Tour throughout his career, with three of those wins coming in the famed Race of Champions 200. Putting it plainly, the road to victory lane at Oswego goes through Matt Hirschman.

The entire entry list for Saturday’s race at Oswego Speedway can be found below.

Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Oswego Speedway is just part of the annual Budweiser Classic Weekend. Race fans can watch all of the action from the 69th Annual Budweiser Classic Weekend from Oswego Speedway live on FloRacing.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour At Oswego Speedway Entry List