Champs decided on track
BUFFALO TWP — In with the new ... but not out with the old.
Brian Swartzlander and Kevin Schaeffer saw to the latter during the final group of Fab Four points racing Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.
Swartzlander took home his seventh Lernerville points title in spectacular fashion, coming from the 10th starting position to win his third consecutive feature at the Sarver oval.
The Leechburg resident began the race with a 28-point lead over Slippery Rock's Dave Murdick. Murdick was leading the feature when motor problems forced him to the pits after 12 laps.
“On this night, winning points is more important than winning the race,” Swartzlander admitted. “But once the green flag waves to begin a race, no one's thinking about points.
“I was thinking about winning that race. That's the name of the game.”
And Swartzlander has won plenty.
Friday marked his 77th career Modified win at Lernerville — extending his own track record — and 150th career feature win. He won five features at Lernerville this season.
“It never gets old,” Swartzlander said of winning. “We focused on winning points here this year. We ran three races at Sharon. Besides that, it's all been here.”
Kittanning's Schaeffer finished second to Danny Holtgraver in the Sprint feature, but that was good enough to wrap up his fourth Sprint track title. Only Lou Blaney (six) has won more Sprint crowns at Lernerville.
Schaeffer, 33, has been involved in racing for 25 years. His parents have financed his No. 9 Sprinter, but the family is shutting down the Schaeffer race team after this season.
“Finances are one reason, plus I'm getting burned out. It's a lot of work,” Schaeffer said.
Despite winning just one race all year, Schaeffer was the model of consistency all season. He finished among the top five in 13 of 14 features.
“I finished sixth the other time and I'm still mad at myself for that,” he said.
“If some Sprint team calls me and offers me a ride next year, I'd certainly listen. If all I had to do was drive, that's a situation I'd welcome.”
Schaeffer won three consecutive Lernerville Sprint points titles from 2006-08 before returning to the top this year.
Holtgraver led wire to wire in picking up his third feature win at the Sarver oval in 2012, a healthy total considering he's spent much of the season traveling.
“The car's been good everywhere we've been,” Holtgraver said. “Running up front, all I wanted to do was keep it from falling off the track, run good laps and take my time.”
New faces made their presence felt on this night as well.South Park's Jared Miley clinched his first Lernerville Late Model points title two weeks ago during a rainout. He is the nephew of Ben Miley, who won four Late Model crowns at the Sarver oval, most recently in 1996.Miley is vacationing and did not race Friday.Sarver resident Michael Norris did race, however, coming from the sixth starting position to win his first-ever Lernerville feature. He took the lead from Alex Ferree on Turn 2 of the 19th lap.Norris, 20, has won twice at Pittsburgh (Pa.) Motor Speedway and has a seven-point lead over Ferree at that track. He is in his fourth season of running at Lernerville.“It's been a mental thing. I've always been intimidated here,” Norris said. “At Lernerville, it's elbows up, cut-throat kind of racing. The quality of drivers here is insane.“Overcoming that mental barrier and finally winning here is huge for me. You can go anywhere in the country and if you can say you won a race at Lernerville Speedway, that's saying something.”Norris took a victory lap after getting his win, holdding the checkered flag out the window.Corey McPherson of Tarentum won his Sportsman Stock heat race and only had to start the feature to clinch his first-ever points title. Only 24, McPherson is in his third year of racing in the division.“I finished third in points last year, only 11 points behind,” he said. “I felt like I could do it this year. It was just a matter of getting a feel for racing out there.”McPherson won five features this season and had 12 top-five finishes.Springdale's Chris Schneider won the Sportsman Stock feature, driving the No. 53 car for Rob Shook. It was Schneider's 18th career win at the Sarver oval, but first this season.Notes: There were 93 cars in the pits. ... Joe Kelley owns the Sportsman Stock record with 44 career feature wins at Lernerville, but has gone winless this year. He finished second Friday night. ... McPherson led all divisions with eight heat wins at Lernerville this year. Murdick had seven. ... Only three times in the 45-year history of the track have four drivers won first-time point titles during the same season at Lernerville. The last time it happened was 1998, when Jimmy Hawley, Gary Lyle, Swartzlander and Kelley won titles. ... TheAll-Star Sprints will run at Lernerville next Friday.
