BUFFALO TWP— His car is pure white, the color interrupted only by the red No. 45 painted on each side and the top.

A rather fitting car for Steve Feder during his virgin season as a Modified driver at Lernerville Speedway.

The 24-year-old Butler resident has no sponsor advertising on the vehicle. The only racing experience he has is two years of lawn tractor racing at Shadetree Speedway.

"I still have that tractor,"Feder said. "I haven't given up that form of racing completely, but I rolled it about a month ago and haven't gotten it back on the track."

That's because he's busy keeping his Modified on the track at Lernerville.

Feder works as an engineer in Monroeville. He is single and lives at home with his parents.

In terms of racing, it was now or never.

"Racing is something I've always wanted to do, and the fact I'm living at home now, unattached, this was the time to try,"he said.

"I didn't want to go through the rest of my life wondering what this would be like."

Feder fared well in lawn tractor racing, finishing third in points two years ago and fourth last year in the stock division. He bought a 7-year-old Modified car from a driver in eastern Pennsylvania in the offseason.

"Dave Murdick helped hook me up with the guy,"Feder said. "The car doesn't have a lot of races on it, so it's in pretty good shape."

Murdick, of Slippery Rock, won the Modified points title here in 2004 and 2005. He has been helping Feder in the pits, as has longtime Modified car owner Tim Temple.

Temple lives on Duffy Road in Butler, the same road as Feder's grandmother, and has been involved in the dirt racing game for 40 years.

"Brad Doty, Bob Wearing, Dick Swartzlander, Dave Murdick — I've probably had 40 guys drive for me over the years,"Temple said.

"When Steve's grandmother told me he was interested in racing, he started coming to the races and helping me three years ago."

Temple originally set up the No. 45 for Feder to take on the track.

"I didn't know the first thing about it,"Feder admitted. "I couldn't even turn the car until I got Tim and Davey's help."

Feder's father, Harold Feder, worked with Temple's cars in the pits years ago. Now he and Matt Feder — Steve's brother — along with the their uncle, Don Gallagher, comprise the pit crew for the No. 45.

Feder is 11th in Modified points at Lernerville this season and has a top-10 finish.

"I think he'll be a good racer,"Temple said. "I never discouraged him from driving a race car because he's a worker. He wants to get good at this and I have high hopes for him."

Besides racing at Lernerville, Feder has been participating on the BRPModified Tour as well.

His goal right now isn't to win as much as it is to keep the car in one piece.

"Our whole team is learning as we go,"Feder said. "I can't be getting laps in out there (on the track) if the car is sitting back here (in the pits)."

The Feders continue to learn on the fly — with Murdick as their go-to guy.

"Steve can drive the car — he just needs laps,"Murdick said. "It's a little hard helping him on set-up because I'm a veteran driver and he's a first-year driver. We're not going to want the same thing.

"I don't mind helping young drivers. It's good for the sport and we need cars. Given time, Steve Feder is going to be a good one."

Lernerville SpeedwayPoints StandingsTop 15 through July 21SprintsKevin Schaeffer 333, Ed Lynch Jr. 332, Rod George 315, Dan Shetler 283, Carl Bowser 279, Scott Priester 250, Brent Matus 220, Charlie Holben 210, Gary Rankin 197, Scott Bonnell 187, Ralph Spithaler 184, Mike Lutz 180, Dan Holtgraver 180, Dan Kuriger 161, Mike Shearer 141

Late ModelsAlex Ferree 404, Gary Lyle 269, Mike Blose 258, Matt Lux 257, Jared Miley 236, Lynn Geisler 231, Greg Satterlee 230, Nick Jones 224, Ken Schaltenbrand 223, John Mollick 191, Sam Stile 189, Dutch Davies 184, Chuck Sarver 171, Dave Murdick 162, Dan Swartzlander 162

ModifiedsBrian Swartzlander 342, Del Rougeux Jr. 338, Dave Murdick 303, JRMcGinley 281, Kevin Bolland 250, Tom Winkle 245, Mike Turner 227, Jeremiah Shingledecker 217, Carl Murdick 210, Jim Weller Jr. 174, Phil Evans 168, Skip Moore 157, Mike Miller 143, Doug Fleeger 122, John Durci 120

Pure StocksMike Pegher Jr. 378, Butch Lambert 340, Bob Egley 324, Greg Beach 315, Joe Kelley 308, Jason Fosnaught 306, Paul Schreckengost 294, Bob Lipinski 286, Wayne Carbo 247, Terry Young 242, Jim Fosnaught 226, Chuck Gebauer 191, Pat Hanley 189, Nick Reges 167, Jake Ayers 158