The SMART Modified Tour has run nine races across three states with five different winners on its path towards this weekend, the final weekend of the “regular season.” Matt Hirschman, Caleb Heady, Brian Loftin, Jonathan Brown, and Joey Coulter have all taken home a “Smarty” trophy this season, but this weekend’s race at North Carolina’s Tri-County Motor Speedway might be the most influential race of the season.

For those that do not know, the SMART Modifieds use a “playoff” similar to that which NASCAR uses in the national divisions. But instead of it being multiple races with the playoff field being whittled away until the final race, the SMART Tour’s playoff is just one race. After the penultimate race of the season, this weekend’s race at Tri-County, the top three drivers in points will be the only drivers eligible to win the championship on October 22 at Virginia’s Motor Mile Speedway.

Entering Tri-County this weekend, Caleb Heady leads the points standings by just nine points over Northampton, Pennsylvania’s Matt Hirschman. NASCAR Hall of Famer and 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte sits third in points, 14 points behind Hirschman. Defending SMART champion Burt Myers is fourth in points, 19 points behind Hirschman and five points behind Labonte. 

Why is the gap to Hirschman so important? Well, even though he has won five of the nine races run to date, Hirschman has no plans to run Tri-County this weekend due to a prior commitment to run the King of the Green event at Evergreen Raceway in his home state. 

But, even without running every race, Hirschman is still eligible for the SMART championship three should he still be third in points at the end of 99 laps on Saturday night. 

According to the SMART Modified Tour’s points structure, Burt Myers has to finish 11th or better to surpass Hirschman in total points and qualify for the championship three by our math. He could finish 12th if he leads at least one lap, which pays one bonus point, or finish 17th or better if he leads the most laps, which pays five bonus points.

Myers has finished in the top five in every race this season except the July race at Caraway where a crash relegated him to a 20th-place finish. The only thing missing for Myers, much like last year, is a race win. However, that didn’t stop Myers from taking the championship a year ago, so there’s a chance he can repeat as champion this year even while being winless across two seasons.

But that’s going to be awful tough because Heady has been the next-best driver all season behind Hirschman. Heady’s worst finish is a 16th-place run at Virginia’s Franklin County Speedway. Outside of that race, Heady’s lowest finish is a seventh-place finish at Southern National Motorsports Park. Heady also has a victory this season at the first Caraway race, which is something that Myers and Labonte do not have so far this season.

Speaking of Labonte, he too has been remarkably consistent this year. Labonte has just two finishes outside of the top 10 all year, a 13th-place at the July Caraway race and an 11th-place run at Carteret County Speedway in September. Otherwise, Labonte has finished sixth or better every time out. 

Who will make the SMART championship three? Well, we all will find out together this Saturday when the Cardinal 99 takes place at approximately 6:30 p.m. ET from the Tri-County Motor Speedway. 

Race fans who cannot make it to Tri-County to attend the race in person can watch every lap live with a FloRacing subscription.