BUFFALO TWP — As youngsters, Dave Murdick, Sheila Rankin, Jim Weller IIIand Bob Wearing Jr. all shared something in common.

They wanted to be like Dad.

Fueled by that desire, they continue to fuel their race cars each Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.

"I was coming to this track before I could walk,"two-time defending Modified points champion Dave Murdick said.

"Driving a race car is all I ever wanted to do,"Weller IIIdeclared.

Their fathers have a lot to do with that.

Carl Murdick is the only driver to race at Lernerville in all 40 years of the track's existence. He bought his first race car in 1960 — for $175.

"You can't buy a wheel for that much money now," the elder Murdick said.

Carl Murdick won the Modified points title here in 1970. His son Dave and daughter Sheila learned how to race in that same car.

They had caught the racing bug long before that, however.

"We lived by the Butler Farm Show grounds and took a go-kart and a can of gas over there to ride every day,"Dave Murdick recalled. "One time we started it up and it took off before either of us could get in.

"By the time we chased it down, it hit a telephone pole. Sheila went over to the house, got her red wagon and we towed it home.

"That was the first time our car went off on the hook,"Murdick added, smiling.

"Iremember that,"Rankin said. "Dave was 12, I was 8."

At age 7, Dave Murdick started hanging around the garage while his father worked on the car.

"At first, I was a nuisance more than anything,"he said. "Eventually, I got involved in doing body work for him."

When Rankin was 12, she tried playing soccer for a year, then gave it up.

"They promised me the games would be over in time for me to get to the track on Friday and Saturday nights," she said. "But the games always ran long. Once I realized soccer was interfering with racing, I quit."

Rankin said her father, now in his 60s, still has a passion for racing.

"Absolutely, he still loves it,"she said. "He's out in the garage all day. If my mother didn't call him in for lunch, he'd never leave.

"Working on the car gives him something to do. It keeps him going. We all do the best we can with what we have."

Wearing Jr. followed in the footsteps of Lernerville's all-time feature victory leader and six-time Late Model points champion Bob Wearing Sr.

"It was tough when I began racing,"Wearing Jr. said. "Because I was Bobby Jr., people thought I had it made, that I was handed everything. But I had to work as hard as anybody.

"Dad didn't tell me all that much. He wanted me to develop my own career."

He's done that nicely, with 94 career feature wins and two Modified points titles at Lernerville to his credit.

One win in particular stands out.

"I passed Dad late in a race and got first while he took second," Wearing Jr. said. "They asked him to come back out of the pits for a picture with me in victory lane.

"I still have that picture. It means a lot to me."

Wearing Jr. described racing as "a big money game" today. His own son, 16-year-old Matt, also yearns to drive a race car.

"Before too long, I won't run my own car. I'll look for a ride and try to continue racing that way,"Wearing Jr. said. "If I do that, I can get Matt into a race car and he can begin his career.

"This sport's not like it was when Dad was piling up all those wins. Winning every feature in a year ... Those days are gone. Money's a big part of it now, but it's still fun. That's why we do it."

Weller IIIgrew up watching his father, Jim Weller Jr., win the Modified points title at Lernerville in 1997 and 1999.

"I looked up to him so much,"Weller IIIsaid. "All I could think about was becoming old enough to race a car myself."

When he did come of age, Weller III jumped into a Sprint car. But a violent flip in North Carolina toward the end of the 2004 season left him with injuries serious enough to sideline him for all of last year.

Weller III is back in a Modified this season for safety reasons.

"My body couldn't handle another flip in a Sprint car very well," he said. "It doesn't matter to me. Racing is racing. Having to sit out last year made me realize how much I love it."

"After that accident, when he woke up in intensive care, the first thing he asked was whether his car would be ready by Friday," Weller Jr. said.

Both of Weller's sons are involved in dirt track racing. Weller III parks his car next to his father's in the pits and John Weller works on both cars.

"They both love different aspects of the sport," Weller Jr. said.

And Weller III respects his father's racing ability more than ever.

"He taught me everything I know about racing, his crew helped me, I really had a head start in this," Weller III said. "Dad and John Corbin (Weller's crew chief) started from scratch. They learned as they went.

"I can't imagine the patience they had to have. Through trial and error, they became successful.

"My goal? Just look at my father. I want to be as good as him," Weller III added.

Lernerville Speedway Points Leaders(top 15 through June 16)SprintsEd Lynch Jr. 158, Kevin Schaeffer 148, Rod George 142, Arnie Kent 139, Ralph Spithaler 136, Carl Bowser 134, Brent Matus 120, Scott Bonnell 115, Cory Good 107, Gary Rankin 97, Terry Bowser 88, Scott Priester 85, Mike Shearer 79, Brian Ellenberger 79, Skip Daugherty 75

Late ModelsLynn Geisler 171, Ken Schaltenbrand 140, Mike Blose 122, Gary Lyle 119, Matt Lux 115, Alex Ferree 106, Jared Miley 95, Chuck Kennedy 93, Sam Stile 90, Chris Schneider 90, Bob Wearing Jr. 86, Carl McKinney 86, Dave Hess Jr. 80, Tony Burke 78, John Mollick 74

ModifiedsKevin Bolland 180, Brian Swartzlander 168, Dave Murdick 162, Tom Winkle 160, Jim Weller Jr. 127, Del Rougeux Jr. 120, Jim Weller III106, JR McGinley 103, Joe Crawford 96, Carl Murdick 93, Mark Flick 88, Tom Mattocks 76, Skip Moore 71, Mike Turner 66, Chanda Reitz 54

Pure StocksButch Lambert 187, Greg Beach 154, Jason Fosnaught 141, Wayne Carbo 135, Mike Pegher Jr. 134, Paul Schreckengost 128, Bob Egley 122, Jake Ayers 121, Pat Hanley 116, Terry Young 112, Nick Reges 91, Dave Baker 87, Jim Fosnaught 82, Shawn Thorn 79, Martin Viale 74