BUFFALO TWP— Winning is a team effort, and that's fine with John Mollick.

The driver of the No. 4J Late Model at Lernerville Speedway is a team of two — or one, depending on who you talk to.

"My wife and I are it,"Mollick said. "We've been doing this Late Model for four years now. I take care of the car, she takes care of my (driving) suit and helmet."

"All I do is lend support wherever I can,"Mollick's wife, Kim, said. "John has been doing this whole thing himself."

The only pit crew member Mollick has on Friday nights is longtime friend Bobby Petrilla of Apollo. He meets him at the track each Friday.

"Iused to live in Apollo and Bobby and I go way back,"Mollick said. "Without his support, I doubt I'd be coming up here to race."

The Mollicks live in Toronto, Ohio, just north of Steubenville, and make the two-hour drive to Lernerville nearly every week. It's the only track they run on a regular basis.

Mollick used to race in the Mod Lite division at Deerfield (Ohio)Speedway for car owner Dave Walters of Akron. He won seven of 15 features there one season and claimed the points championship.

"We had become dominant in that division and Dave wanted to move up to a Late Model and asked me to stay with him,"Mollick said. "But once he saw the prices of cars and equipment and the overall expense, he backed out.

"Kim and I decided to give it a try ourselves, so we bought a car and went for it."

Yet they've gone at it alone.

"In an ideal world, John would have three or four guys helping him out in our garage so he could come inside at a decent hour," his wife said. "We don't have that help, so he does what he has to do."

That means coming home from work late afternoons, grabbing a quick bite to eat and heading out to the garage until bedtime, night after night.

Mollick went three years without winning a Late Model feature at Lernerville until finally reaching victory lane May 23. Two weeks later, he took the checkered flag again.

"Very emotional. ... I was at a loss for words,"Kim Mollick said. "To see all of that hard work and effort come together and pay off for him that moment was fantastic.

"This is why he does this night after night. I see his passion for this sport and I support him 100 percent."

Mollick's two wins are his only top-five finishes this season. He has three other top-10s and stands 11th in the Late Model points race.

"We have to pick and choose when we can come up here,"Mollick admitted. "It costs us $90 in gas just to get here and back to Toronto.

"I have to be careful on the track, too. If the car gets banged up, we've got a problem."

Mollick has had no problem selling the sport of racing to his wife.

"We met through racing at Deerfield,"he said. "I became good friends with her brother, who was a driver there. For a while, I thought the two of them were husband and wife because she was always in the pits with him."

Now she's in the pits with Mollick.

"My brother raced, my dad raced,"Kim Mollick said. "This game is in my blood. I'm not at all surprised I married a race car driver."

Lernerville Points StandingsTop 15 through June 20SprintsBob Felmlee 267, Kevin Schaeffer 254, Rod George 227, Brent Matus 218, Scott Priester 208, Ed Lynch Jr. 185, Scott Bonnell 182, Dan Shetler 167, Charlie Holben 166, Carl Bowser 154, Brian Ellenberger 153, Ralph Spithaler Jr. 136, Rob Eyler 116, Gary Rankin 110, Brent Ellenberger 102

Late ModelsAlex Ferree 279, Lynn Geisler 262, Alan Dellinger/Mike Blose 238, Jared Miley 237, John Flinner 236, Greg Satterlee 218, Gary Lyle 216, Matt Lux 195, Chuck Kennedy 191, Dave Murdick 180, John Mollick 171, Todd Bachman 165, Sam Stile 150, Clate Copeman 148, Keith Barbara 141

ModifiedsBrian Swartzlander 256, Kevin Bolland 216, Tom Winkle 215, Del Rougeux Jr. 201, Jeremiah Shingledecker 182, Dave Murdick 172, Mark Flick 153, J.R. McGinley 141, Carl Murdick 141, Phil Evans 127, Tim Doran 113, Jim Weller Jr. 108, Mike Turner 106, Erik Martin 103, Steve Feder 97

Street StocksJoe Kelley 310, Bob Egley 263, Jason Fosnaught 261, Wayne Carbo 243, Pat Hanley 242, Greg Beach 230, Jim Fosnaught 209, Bob Lipinski 203, Bryan Shaffer 203, Stan Riggle 174, Terry Young 169, Paul Schreckengost 152, Shawn Thorn 150, Dave Baker 144, Mike Pegher Jr. 133