BUFFALO TWP— Don't expect John Flinner to back away from a challenge — or to back away from racing, for that matter.

The veteran Late Model driver from Zelienople and winner of five consecutive points championships at Lernerville Speedway from 2001-05 made his return to the Sarver track for last weekend's Firecracker 100.

Flinner had raced only once before all season — the previous Saturday at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway — and was forced to leave the track five laps into the race because of damage to the rear end of the No. 48 car.

"We had to replace the whole thing and it cost $4,700 to get it done,"said John Flinner Sr., Flinner's father and crew member. "We just got it in (June 27, two days before the Firecracker heat races)."

Flinner failed to qualify for the Firecracker 100. He finished 12th in the B-Main and 17th in the 24-car field comprising the Uncle Sam 30.

That's a far cry from the man who stands third on Lernerville's career Late Model feature victory list with 38.

But Flinner will take it.

"Hey, I haven't been here in a while," he said. "There's a lot of stuff that has to come back to me, like when to lift, when to hit the gas, how to even steer this car.

"I would have liked to have been out here the past two Fridays, but the car just wasn't ready by then. And there was no way I was gonna pass on this race."

Flinner was involved in a violent crash Oct. 15 at Challenger Raceway, flipping his car and suffering a bad concussion and a sore neck.

He was released from the hospital after one day, rested for a day at home and went back to work.

To this day. he remembers nothing about that race.

Flinner never followed through on suggested follow-up doctor visits.

"Iguess I should have," he admitted. "My neck still gets stiff at times. I'll get it checked out sooner or later.

"All I know is, it cost $9,980 for that helicopter ride to the hospital and the total bill was $60,000 —seems like an awful lot for a headache."

The elder Flinner was not surprised his son didn't follow through on the doctor visits.

"We all tried to get him to go,"he said. "John said he was too backed up at work. That's always the case with him."

Flinner paints lettering and numbers on race cars for a living. He had to get his own car painted before he could return to racing this year.

"The little stuff kept setting us back," he said. "I'm a perfectionist, so I wasn't going to take the car to the track until it was perfect. Setting the shocks, the panels, things like that take time."

Though he returned to Lernerville last weekend, Flinner may not be seen there very much. Car owner John Johnson wants to focus on special races this year rather than run for points.

The No. 48 may make regular appearances at PPMS, if anywhere.

"Whatever (Johnson) wants to do, I'm up for,"Flinner said. "It'll be a different deal for us, but you gotta welcome a challenge. Challenges are invigorating."

The accident in October did not steer Flinner toward retirement, as has been rumored, though he's talked about retirement many times before.

"I've broken my arm racing, had plates put in there, couldn't work for three weeks — Istill did — and came back,"Flinner said. "You can't be scared of it.

"Iwould have been back before now. I've just been busy."