Gary Risch Jr. had big plans at Lernerville Speedway this season, but those plans have gotten even bigger.

Instead of racing on the track, the Freeport driver of the No. 3G Modified car will be running it.

In a restructuring of Lernerville's operation, Risch and his father, Gary Risch Sr. of Sarver, have been named co-general managers of the track by DIRT MotorSports and will direct its operation on a weekly basis.

The company bought the facility from Helen Martin in 2004 and leased it to Barb Bartley and Tom Roenigk, who oversaw Lernerville's weekly racing shows the past two years.

When Bartley and Roenigk were approached about becoming full-time DIRT MotorSports employees, they declined.

"DIRT no longer wanted to lease the track," said Tonya Moschell, general manager of DIRT Northeast operations. "That was a deal-breaker. We had to seek other people."

Moschell said numerous people were interviewed for the new positions of Lernerville co-general managers before the Risches accepted the job.

Before doing so, the elder Risch had planned to stop racing his No. 8G Modified at Lernerville and pool his resources with his son's car.

"Our goal was to set up Gary for a big year on the track," Risch Sr. said. "But part of this deal is that we don't race at Lernerville. It was determined that would be a conflict of interest."

The younger Risch will continue to race his Modified at Tri-City Speedway and Sharon Speedway.

DIRT approached the pair about interviewing for the position. Negotiations began Tuesday night and a deal was reached late Wednesday night.

Risch Sr., 54, manages his parents' grocery store in the Sarver area. Risch Jr., 28, owns his own landscaping company.

"But I've got people who can run that business for me," Risch Jr. said. "I'm committed to this."

The Risch family has been involved in racing at Lernerville throughout the track's 38-year existence. Risch Sr. was a close friend Don Martin, the facility's original owner who died in 1993.

"We didn't want any outsiders coming in," Risch Jr. said. "This is one of the greatest dirt tracks in America and we're going to keep it that way."

Lernerville will continue its Fab Four racing program of Sprints, Late Models, Modifieds and Pure Stocks on a weekly basis, along with maintaining annual appearances by the World of Outlaws Sprints and Late Models, and Modified Super DIRT Series.

Risch Jr. said he hopes to keep all of the current personnel at Lernerville in place.

"That's what we're in the process of doing right now, talking to all of those people," he said.

One-way radios and transponders will be installed in the cars to speed up restarts and scoring during races. The radios will be used to tell the drivers where to line up, rather than having track officials out on the speedway directing them.

"It was very important to us to put the track in the hands of people from that community," Moschell said. "We recognize the tradition there. We don't want to mess with any of that."

Lernerville is one of four dirt racetracks owned by DIRT MotorSports. The others are Rolling Wheels Raceway Park and Cayuga County Fair Speedway in upstate New York, and Volusia Speedway Park in Florida.

DIRT MotorSports NorthEast operations headquarters are in Weedsport, N.Y., just east of Syracuse.

Lernerville is scheduled to open its 39th season of racing March 31.