Devin Moran has whittled down Brandon Sheppard’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship points lead over the last two months to where he is now in position to defend his title during the final race of the season: The Dirt Track World Championship at West Virginia Motor Speedway.

At the end of August, Moran found himself 105 points behind Sheppard and sitting in third in the points. However, heading into the final race this weekend, he is now second and just 45 points behind Sheppard.

Over the last five Lucas Oil races dating back to the C.J. Rayburn Memorial at Brownstown Speedway, Moran has averaged a 3.6 finish (7th, 5th, 1st, 3rd, and 2nd), while Sheppard has averaged a 4.8 finish (2nd, 8th, 6th, 2nd, and 6th).

Both drivers have already raced at West Virginia Motor Speedway this season. Sheppard finished fourth and 13th in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series doubleheader on June 12-13, while Moran won the unsanctioned Hillbilly 100 on September 6.

There are a number of different scenarios where Devin Moran can cut that gap and claim his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship in back-to-back years. And he only needs to tie given that he holds the tiebreaker.

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series determines a points tie first by the number of wins in events where points are earned. Both Moran and Sheppard are tied with six wins apiece. The second way to determine a tie is by the number of second-place finishes in events where points are earned. Moran holds the tiebreaker here as well with nine second-place finishes compared to Sheppard’s five.

That then brings us to finishing order for Sunday’s Dirt Track World Championship. Here’s how the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series awards points:

1. 200
2. 180
3. 170
4. 160
5. 155
6. 150
7. 145
8. 140
9. 135
10. 130
11. 125
12. 120
13. 115
14. 110
15. 105
16. 100
17. 95
18. 90
19. 85
20. 80
21. 75
22. 75
23. 75
24. 75
25. 75
26. 75

Because this is a multi-day event with split-field preliminaries, points will be awarded solely based on finishing order in Sunday’s A-main. No qualifying bonus points will be given. The Series rules state, “In a multi-day event, where preliminary events are split fields or inverted, Championship and Rookie of the Year points will only be tallied from the final event.” There will be no qualifying on Sunday, so there is no opportunity for qualifying points.

If Moran wins the race, he needs Sheppard to finish 5th or worse to gain the 45 points required to tie or pass him. If Sheppard finishes 4th or better, he clinches the title regardless of Moran’s result. Here are the full scenarios in which Moran wins the championship:

Moran’s path to a second consecutive title is clear: he needs a strong finish while Sheppard drops behind the thresholds listed above. A win would put the most pressure on Sheppard, but even a top-five or top-ten run can be enough depending on where the points leader finishes. After closing a 105-point gap to 45 over the last two months, Moran will have one more chance to complete the comeback in the 100-lap Dirt Track World Championship.

The Dirt Track World Championship is scheduled to run on Saturday and Sunday, October 17-18. The Saturday program will feature qualifying, heat races, b-mains, and twin 25-lap features paying $5,000 to win. Sunday’s program will include last-chance races, the Jim Dunn Non-Qualifier and the 100-lap Dirt Track World Championship, which pays $100,000 to win and concludes the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season.

NEXT: Dirt Track World Championship Schedule Shifts To Saturday And Sunday