Butler native Aaron Easler, left, is show here with his brother Ben with the sportsman series car they work on to race at Lernerville Speedway. Easler was named the 2014 Western PA Rookie of the Year last Saturday.

BUTLER TWP — For Aaron Easler, two out of three ain’t bad.

The Butler driver of the No. 11 Sportsman Stock received the 2014 Western PA Rookie of the Year award Saturday night at the annual Lernerville Speedway Awards Banquet.

“My goals going into the year were to win this award, finish in the top five in points and get a feature win,” Easler, 23, said. “I came close to winning a feature a couple of times, so I have to call this a pretty good year.”

Easler received the award by vote over 70 members of the media and track officials covering oval track racing in western Pennsylvania.

He tallied 412 points at Lernerville last season, good enough for fifth in the Sportsman Stock points race. He had two runner-up finishes, six top five’s and 13 top ten’s out of the 13 feature events he took part in.

Easler’s father, Sylvan, owns the race car. His older brother Ben. a teacher in the Richland School District in Johnstown, served as his crew chief.

“The family thing means a lot to me,” Easler said. “Racing is when we all get together. It’s a bonding experience for us.”

Now in his final semester at Edinboro University, Easler is a graphic design artist and does the decals for his No. 11 car and his brother Ben’s car.

“I’ve had other drivers approach me, asking me to do decals for their cars as well,” Easler said. “It’s something I’m doing on the side now.”

Ben Easler also has a Sportsman Stock, but has put his driving career on hold a bit to help his younger brother.

“Being a teacher, it’s hard for me to find time at the beginning and end of the race season,” Ben Easler said. “With the success Aaron is having, he takes precedent right now.

“I handle the set-up for his car, so I want to make sure he’s good to go.”

Aaron Easler was able to get behind the wheel four times in the 2013 season — remaining eligible for the rookie award in 2014.

“I got my feet wet there and felt like I could make an impact last year,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect last year,” Ben admitted. “I know Aaron can adapt to different tracks faster than I can. He showed a lot of driving ability last season, but he’s always had that.”

Aaron Easler began his racing career at age 9, in the go-karts at Naugle Speedway. He won a number of races in smaller cars before debuting in a Sportsman Stock two years ago.

This season, he plans to expand his schedule to include appearances at Mercer Raceway while also following the Penn-Ohio Series and competing for the Stocks points title at Lernerville.

“And I definitely want to fget that first win ... hopefully a couple of them,” Easler said.

Ben plans to get behind the wheel as well, “maybe 10 times or so,” he said.

Easler won the Rookie of the Year award by a wide margin over runner-up Brady Miller, the Mini-stock point champion at Dog Hollow Speedway.

Well-known western Pa. drivers to win the award in past years include Dave Murdick (1977), Kevin Bolland (1982), Ed Lynch Jr. (1983), Bob Felmlee (1986) and Jared Miley (2004).