BUTLER TWP — With the committee getting a late start, the Lernerville Speedway Hall of Fame needed a quick fix.

That's why committee member Don Gamble referred to its inaugural class as "a slam dunk."

"No one is going to have an argument with these names," Gamble said while inducting the inaugural class at Lernerville's 41st annual awards banquet Saturday night at the Butler Days Inn.

The track's first Hall of Fame class consists of promoter and longtime Lernerville owner Don Martin and four drivers: Bob Wearing Sr., Lou Blaney, Blackie Watt and Dick Swartzlander.

"The heritage that's here ... you bring new people into the sport by recognizing the old," said Ed Lynch Jr., the track's all-time Sprint feature win leader with 93.

"I feel honored to have known all of those guys," longtime Modified driver Dave Murdick of Slippery Rock said. "I remember starting behind Blackie Watt in a heat race once. I followed him hard into a turn. He made the turn and I went over the hill backwards."

Swartzlander, who drove cars owned by Martin for years, accepted the late track owner's induction as well as his own.

"Don believed in treating the fans and the competitors equally," Swartzlander said. "He knew how to make people come back to Lernerville.

"I needed a battery charger in 1955, asked Don if I could borrow his and he told me to keep it. Then he gave me a truck to tow my car with. He was the most kind-hearted guy. ... He was good to everybody I know."

Martin was one of the four founders of Lernerville Speedway in 1967. He was selected as RPM Promoter of the Year in 1983.

"He was always criticized for not having an intermission, not salting the popcorn or charging too much for food," Gamble said. "But the man was ahead of his time."

Swartzlander won Late Model championships at Lernerville in 1969 and 1970. He remains the only driver in the track's history to win a Sprint, Late Model and Modified feature in the same night.

"His wife bought him a race car so he wouldn't re-enlist in the Marines. That's how he got started," Gamble said.

Driving the No. 70 car owned by Larry Peters, Swartzlander won 42 features and seven track championships with it. He remains in the race game today as car owner and crew chief of son Dan Swartzlander's Late Model.

"We've disagreed on tires and set-up before, but Danny and I have raced together all our lives and have never had a fight," Swartzlander said.

Wearing is Lernerville's all-time leader with 179 feature wins and nine track championships. Blaney is second in both categories with 118 wins and seven track titles.

Blaney died recently. His widow, Kate Blaney, accepted his induction. Greg Wheeling, who flagged Wearing's 600th career feature win at Pittsburgh Pa. Motor Speedway July 7, 1990, accepted Wearing's induction.

"A month ago, we lost one of the all-time greats," Modified points champion Brian Swartzlander said of Blaney. "Lou was more than a legend. He was my hero.

"He wouldn't give you an inch, but he'd race you clean. That's all you can ask of any driver."

"As often as he won, I never heard anyone boo Lou Blaney," Gamble said. "When you won that much, someone was usually mad at you."

Blaney had more than 200 career wins in the Sprint division from 1961-80 before excelling in the Modifieds.

Like Blaney, Watt won seven track titles at Lernerville and was best known for his 25-year relationship with car owner Joe Pitkavish.

Watt won 84 features at the Sarver track.

"Joe and I never had an argument," he said. "He was like a father to me."

In other banquet news:

n The 2008 track champions — Kevin Schaeffer in Sprints, Alex Ferree in Late Models, Brian Swartzlander in Modifieds and Bob Egley in Street Stocks — received their trophies.

Swartzlander's title was his sixth at Lernerville. Schaeffer joined Blaney and Lynch as the only drivers to win three straight Lernerville Sprint titles.

• Lindsay Enscoe (Sprints), Todd Bachman (Late Models), Phil Evans Jr. (Modifieds) and Pat Hanley (Street Stocks) received the most improved driver awards.

• Erik Martin received the track's rookie of the year award.

• John Mollick, Hanley and Rob Eyler received checkered flags for posting their first career Lernerville feature wins in 2008.

• Bob Felmlee and Rod George in Sprints, and Brian Swartzlander in Modifieds received Cavalcade Awards for amassing the most points in their divisions in Western Pennsylvania.