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BUFFALO TWP — Another win and Brian Swartzlander will find himself standing alongside Lou Blaney — but only in numbers
The Leechburg driver of the No. 83 Modified claimed his fourth feature of the season Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.
It also was his 68th career feature triumph at the Sarver oval, putting him one victory from the late Lou Blaney, who won a track-record 69 Modified races.
"I don't care if I get up to 80 wins here," Swartzlander said. "Lou Blaney will always be the king. He was great. He was my hero.
"Lou may be gone, but his legacy isn't. People still talk about him at the tracks. He's the guy and deservedly so."
Swartzlander started fifth in Friday's race while points leader Kevin Bolland had the pole. Bolland had a comfortable lead until Swartzlander passed him around Turn 1 on a 13th-lap restart.
Bolland settled for second as Swartzlander never yielded once he got the lead.
"There was some type of moisture up top on Turn 4 and I couldn't get any bite there," Bolland said. "It kept knocking my car's balance out of whack heading down the front straight away.
"I couldn't get the bite out of (turns) 1 and 2 and Brian was. Once he got in front ... I was just chasing at that point."
Sawdust had been applied to a patch of dirt on the top groove of Turn 4, apparently to soak up some type of spillage from earlier in the night.
Swartzlander said the moisture made him leery of going into Turn 4 too hard.
"I was picking up ground off 1 and 2 and took advantage of that," he said. "I took the outside groove once I got the lead. It was hard to pass anyone out there tonight."
But Swartzlander might soon be passing Blaney in the record book.
"I'm thrilled just to be up near his win total," Swartzlander said. "I used to get lapped by that guy when I started racing. Then I started competing with him. Then I started beating him.
"He was the measuring stick, without question. And if you did beat him, he'd be the first one to come to your trailer and have a beer with you."
Andy McKisson and Gregg Satterlee started up front in the Sprint and Late Model features, respectively, and led from wire to wire in reaching victory lane.
McKisson posted his second Lernerville Sprint feature win in just six appearances here this season. Brian Ellenberger of Butler started 12th and settled for second.
Ellenberger grabbed second during a 12th-lap restart and drew close to McKisson with seven laps to go, only to fall behind again in lapped traffic.
"I was hoping the lapped traffic would help me, but it didn't work out," Ellenberger said. "My car was getting really loose toward the end of this race.
"I needed a caution during the last five laps or so. I thought I saw an orange cone on the track and thought they were going to wave the yellow flag, but they never did."
McKisson of Strattanville isn't competing for points anywhere. He's raced at seven tracks this season and has made appearances at Lernerville for 10 years. He had never won here before this year.
"We started up front both times and stayed there," McKisson said of his two victories here. "I've only got 11 career wins overall, so we haven't started up front all that often."
McKisson insisted he wasn't about to take any risks around lapped cars, even if Ellenberger had passed him.
"I pay my own bills. I'd rather finish second than leave with a wrecked car," McKisson said. "I just use my head in those situations. Tonight, it went my way."
Satterlee picked up his third Late Model win of the year, finishing more than a straightaway ahead of runner-up Lynn Geisler of Cranberry Township.
Despite three restarts, Satterlee was never challenged for the lead.
"The car was good and I was firing off well enough on the restarts to stay ahead," he said.
A.J. Flick, 17, an incoming senior at Kiski Area High School, came from the ninth starting spot to claim his second Sportsman Stock Feature in as many weeks.
He would have three in a row, but Bob Egley nipped him at the wire by .029 seconds last week.
Notes: There were 75 cars in the pits. ... Geisler's second-place finish in the Late Model feature was his highest in 2010. ... Petrolia's Lindsay Enscoe finished a season-high second in her Sprint heat race. ... Joe Kelley finished third in the Sportsman Stock feature, his 12th top-three finish here this year.
