BUFFALO TWP— Step by step, inch by inch.

Mike Turner continues to improve in this his third season of racing in the Modified division at Lernerville Speedway.

The 29-year-old Butler driver's improvement has been so gradual that hardly anyone'snoticed.

"Our goal was to finish among the top 15 in points last year and we did that,"Turner said. "Now we want to finish among the top 10 in points this year."

So far, so good.

Turner tallied 188 points to finish 12th in Modified points at Lernerville last season. He's sitting ninth in points so far this year with 126 and is on pace to easily eclipse his 2006 point total.

Turner's No. 96 car has also won a heat race this year — his first-ever checkered flag at Lernerville.

"I drove a Pure Stock here for seven years and never won anything,"he said. "We tried running in both divisions for a while, but we spread ourselves too thin back here in the pits, so we gave that up."

Turner's father, Dwayne Turner, and his uncle Kevin Turner help him in the pits. They park the No. 96 next to fellow Modified drivers Dave and Carl Murdick, enabling the race teams to pool their resources.

It was Dave Murdick's contacts in New York that enabled the Turner race team to buy its current Modified from a driver up there.

"It's an odd ball car compared to the other Modifieds here because it has a floor bar,"Dwayne Turner said. "But it's a good car and we've been competitive with it.

"I think Mike can finish among the top five cars on a given night here. To win a feature might be expecting too much."

Dave Murdick said he's noticed the improvement in Turner's driving ability on the track.

"I was watching a video from a couple of years ago and noticed Mike was spinning out quite a bit,"Murdick said. "You don't see that now.

"His dad has done a good job figuring out their car and setting it up how Mike likes it as a driver. That can be a tricky mix sometimes."

Dwayne Turner has been turning wrenches on Modifieds for 25 years, all with the Murdicks and his son's team.

Another factor in Turner's early success this year is a lower car count in the Modfied division. No more than 16 Modifieds have been showing up at Lernerville for the track's Fab Four race nights.

"That kind of thing goes in cycles,"Mike Turner said. "The Sprints were down in car count a couple of years ago and they've bounced back."

Mercer Raceway has started a small-block Modified division that has divided the Modified roster, current Lernerville Modified points leader Brian Swartzlander said.

"Half the guys race small-block and half race big-block, but this is still a tough division,"Swartzlander noted. "The top cars are still out here and there's more open track now."

Lernerville Points Standings(top 15 through May 25)SprintsEd Lynch Jr. 222, Kevin Schaeffer 211, Rod George 171, Carl Bowser 169, Dan Shetler 159, Gary Rankin 144, Scott Priester 143, Brent Matus 134, Ralph Spithaler 125, Dan Holtgraver 120, Charlie Holben 116, Arnie Kent 113, Scott Bonnell 105, Mike Shearer 97, Davey Jones 85

Late ModelsAlex Ferree 231, Jared Miley 171, Mike Blose 162, Gary Lyle 158, Lynn Geisler 152, Dutch Davies 145, Nick Jones 137, Sam Stile 125, Ken Schaltenbrand 108, Dan Swartzlander 108, Matt Lux 100, Chuck Sarver 99, Greg Satterlee 98, John Mollick 90, Jared Hawkins 84

ModifiedsBrian Swartzlander 213, Del Rougeux Jr. 208, Kevin Bolland 199, Dave Murdick 162, Jim Weller Jr. 152, Tom Winkle 151, JRMcGinley 151, Carl Murdick 128, Mike Turner 126, Jeremiah Shingledecker 122, Steve Feder 108, Skip Moore 104, Shawn Kozar 90, Andy Priest 78, Phil Evans 74

Pure StocksMike Pegher Jr. 215, Joe Kelley 194, Bob Egley 191, Jason Fosnaught 187, Butch Lambert 173, Greg Beach 170, Terry Young 160, Paul Schreckengost 160, Bob Lipinski 139, Jim Fosnaught 137, Pat Hanley 120, Jake Ayers 114, Wayne Carbo 102, Chuck Gebauer 102, Stan Riggle 90