The usual suspects
BUFFALO TWP — All four feature winners Friday night at Lernerville Speedway have been in victory lane many times before — sort of.
Sprint car feature winner Ed Lynch Jr. won his track record 80th feature at the Sarver track. Modified winner Kevin Bolland notched his 33rd career win here.
Pure Stock victor Butch Lambert won for the 16th time at Lernerville.
Late Model feature winner Sam Stile has been in victory lane 46 times in the past four years, but never at Lernerville before Friday.
"I only raced here twice before this year,"said Stile, a 22-year racing veteran from Charleroi. "The first time I ever ran here, I flipped the car. The second time was back in 1990."
Since then, Stile has blossomed into the winningest Late Model driver in Western Pennsylvania. His 46 wins over the past four years have come at four tracks:Marion Center, Dog Hollow, Roaring Knob and Midway (Ohio).
He is racing at Lernerville every Friday night this season.
"I decided to come here this year because I heard how tough the competition is and I wanted to step up my program,"Stile said.
"It took me a while to win here, but when you're running against guys like John Flinner and Lynn Geisler, talented guys who know the track inside out, it's going to take a while to break through."
Stile dedicated his first Lernerville victory to his father-in-law, who died earlier this year of bone cancer.
"I got really close to him, especially after he got sick,"Stile, 36, said. "It's been rough. I didn't go to the garage at all for a month.
"I got out of my normal routine, things I usually do with the car. We got knocked out of whack for a while, but we're working a lot harder now."
Stile began the race from the seventh spot, took the lead from Bob Wearing Jr. on the seventh lap and held it the rest of the way.
John Mollick Jr. of Toronto, Ohio, held off Geisler of Cranberry Township for second, matching his best finish in two years of Late Model racing.
"We're good on the turns, but we've been struggling with the chassis and that's been costing us on straightaways,"Mollick said. "We're getting better, but we're not there yet.
"It's all about gaining chassis experience for me. No one was catching Sammy anyway. He was running really well."
In other features:
• Lynch started on the pole for the Sprint feature and cruised to victory, leading the race from wire to wire. Rod George finished a distant second.
The win was Lynch's third this season.
"When you start up front, you gotta go hard,"Lynch said. "Rod and I both started up front, so it was equal opportunity.
"With the weather we've been having, we're just happy to be racing."
Lynch won't apologize for any of his 80 career Sprint wins at the Sarver track, either.
"I'm proud of every single one of them, I remember every single one of them and I've paid for every single one of them,"he said.
• Bolland started fourth in the Modified feature, took the lead from pole-sitter Tom Mattocks on the second lap and was never challenged from there.
Like Lynch, Bolland secured his third win of the season at Lernerville.
"The car's been so good and a lot more people than me are responsible for that,"Bolland said. "The sponsors, the crew, everybody plays a part. Without them, I have nothing."
Bolland, of New Brighton, leads the Modified points race at Lernerville and Tri-City Speedway right now and is second in points on the BRPModified Tour.
The BRPModifieds race at Lernerville in two weeks.
"It'd be great to win all three (points races),"Bolland said.
Bolland raced with a heavy heart Friday night as his mother was re-admitted to the hospital earlier in the day. She has leukemia.
"With everyone's prayers and her treatments, she'll be back at the track with us soon,"he said.
• Lambert, of Mars, started on the pole for the Pure Stock feature and led wire to wire. His day did not begin so well, as a wheel came up through his trailer in Pittsburgh.
"I didn't even know if I was going to be here tonight,"Lambert said.
Chuck Kennedy drove Lambert's No. 27 car during hot laps, but Lambert arrived in time to drive in the heat race.
Lambert has three feature wins and five heat race victories at Lernerville this season, accumulating more checkered flags than any driver in any division this year.
Notes:There were 92 cars in the pits. ... No Late Model driver has won more than one feature at Lernerville all year. ... Ken Schaltenbrand's No. 29 Late Model rolled onto its roof on the front straightaway during his heat race. His car was lifted off the track, but Schaltenbrand qualified for the feature in his back-up car through the B-Main, then placed ninth in the feature. ... Fab Four racing returns here next Friday.
