Just one race remains on the 2025 calendar for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. One race separates two drivers from being crowned a champion for either the first time or the fifth time in their respective careers. 

Austin Beers enters Thursday’s finale with a 14-point lead over Justin Bonsignore, so let’s see what the clinching scenarios look like with one race remaining.

We’ll start off with the simplest scenario possible. Eighth or better. That’s all Beers needs on Thursday is to finish Eighth or better regardless of what Bonsignore does, and that would mean the 22-year-old driver would bring a championship back to Mud Lane in Northampton, Pennsylvania for the first time since Tony Hirschman scored his fifth championship back in 2005.

Things get murky though if Beers finishes ninth or worse.

In the event of a tie in points, Beers currently holds the first tiebreaker, which is the most wins between the two drivers on the season. Beers has visited victory lane twice, at Lancaster Motorplex and Riverhead Raceway, while Bonsignore has won just once this year at Riverhead back in June.

But that all changes if Bonsignore wins the race and scores maximum points in the process. At that point, the second tiebreaker would be most runner-up finishes on the season. Bonsignore holds that tiebreaker with two second-place finishes at Monadnock and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, while Beers has finished second just one time at Richmond. 

NASCAR’s current points system for the Whelen Modified Tour sees one point per position, plus a bonus point for winning the pole, a bonus point for leading a lap, a bonus point for leading the most laps, plus three bonus points awarded to the race winner. All total, a driver can score 49 points on the day. 

That said, how will they fare at Martinsville Speedway, the historic “half-mile of mayhem” in Virginia? Recent history says Justin Bonsignore and his Ken Massa Motorsports owned No. 51 should be the favorite on Thursday night.

Bonsignore had a max points night in the season finale one year ago to claim his fourth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship. He won the pole, and then led 136 of the 200 laps to win the race. He’s also finished second on two occasions at Martinsville.

Meanwhile, Beers led three laps and then finished fourth there last year. 

So how will it all play out? Will the sport be celebrating another five-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion in Justin Bonsignore? Or will everyone be praising the 22-year-old who just won his first title in Beers? We’ll just have to tune in on Thursday night on FloRacing to see.