BUFFALO TWP — The eyes of the dirt track racing world are on Lernerville Speedway this week.

The fourth annual Firecracker 100 — a national Late Model event — has been expanded to three nights with high-paying features closing out each.

Feature winners will receive $6,000 each after 30-lap main events Thursday and Friday night. Winner of the 100-lap Firecracker race will pocket $30,000 come Saturday night.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there's 70 to 75 cars there," World of Outlaw driver Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., said. "A chance to win nice money three nights in a row while your truck doesn't have to move? That's pretty good incentive."

Clanton said a typical WoO Late Model race show has 35 to 40 cars in the pits.

The Firecracker 100's previous format has been time trials and heat races on Friday night, followed by the feature racing on Saturday night.

But a rained-out All-Star Late Model feature last year was made up on a Thursday, running in front of the Firecracker 100 program.

"That was so well-received by our fans that I thought we might be on to something here," Lernerville general manager Gary Risch Jr. "That's what gave us the idea for a three-night show. We had some off-season meetings and decided to go with it."

Concerts, a hot dog eating contest, horseshoes tournament and Miss Lernerville pageant are also part of next weekend's festivities.

"We had 390 campers and 170 tents here last year," Risch said of the 2009 event. "We may surpass that this year."

The format of the three-night show, with driver performances Thursday and Friday setting up the heat trace fields for Saturday, is the same format used at the Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals.

"I don't know if I like that format because it goes against our usual point program," WoO driver Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., said. "But I'm open-minded about it. We'll see how it works out."

Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wisc., is defending champion of the Firecracker 100. Brian Birkhofer won the race in 2008 and Scott Bloomquist claimed the inaugural event in 2007.

The generally racy Lernerville track surface enabled Mars to come from the back of the field twice to win last year's main event.

"I started in the back to begin with, moved up the ladder, got a flat tire and had to tail the field — and still managed to win," Mars said. "When I raced on asphalt, we'd do 200 or 300-lap races.

"It's not the 100 laps that makes the difference. It's the quality of the track. Lernerville's track surface is always wide open. Who's gonna be the fastest? That's who usually wins there."

Birkhofer, of Muscatine, Iowa, echoed those sentiments.

"You can pass there. That's what's good about it," he said of the track surface. "You can drive aggressively and use finesse as well. All of the racing elements come into play.

"The best car usually ends up winning the race on a track like that, especially when it's 100 laps. Jimmy (Mars) proved that last year."

Smith described Deer Creek Speedway in Minnesota and Lernerville as "the best tracks we run on during the summer."

Clanton said clay surfaces can be hard to prepare, but Lernerville officials spend extra time prepping their track.

"They work on that cushion day and night there," he said. "Other places just don't do that. It makes a difference. You can race three-wide at Lernerville. Most other tracks, you can go one and a half cars wide."

Praise of Lernerville's race track comes as no surprise to Risch.

"Not at all. It's what we've always been about ... providing the best racing possible for our fans," he said. "We'll do whatever needs done to make that happen."

The quality of the local drivers can add to the competitiveness of a national event as well.

"A lot of places we go, we dominate the local people," Smith admitted. "But not there. Those local guys are super good."

Saxonburg's Alex Ferree and Zelienople's John Flinner have combined to win eight of the past nine Late Model points titles at Lernerville. Cranberry Township's Lynn Geisler has the other. All three are early registrants in the Firecracker 100 field.

Second-generation drivers and Lernerville locals Jared Miley and Gregg Satterlee will also be among the field.

"The new (Hoosier) tire deal will be interesting, but we'll have two nights of racing there to figure it out," Birkhofer said. "That should be quite a weekend."