BUFFALO TWP - They come from different walks of life and came together for different reasons.

And come Friday nights, Mary Wimer, Linda Fennell and Chris Schaeffer depend on each other.

The women serve as scorers at Lernerville Speedway. They work together in the booth to determine the exact order of cars during each lap and at the end of each race.

"We're a team of three people," Fennell said. "We have to count on each other to do the job right.

"We write down each car, in order, each lap. It takes teamwork and concentration. … We're race fans, but we don't see much of the race."

All three have been scoring dirt track racing for a number of years. Wimer started at Mercer Raceway in 1994 and has been on the job at Lernerville since 1997.

A first-grade teacher in Summit Township, Wimer has 30 years of teaching in and is retiring. She plans to retire from scoring races after this season as well.

"She always told me that when she retired from teaching, she'd retire from scoring," said her husband, Walt Wimer.

It was her husband who first got her involved in racing.

"I've always gone to the track and Mary came with me," he said. "Mercer asked me to announce the races in 1994 and Mary didn't want to sit home by herself on Friday nights, so she learned how to score."

Wimer had scored races at Tri-City Speedway as well, but gave that up after last season.

Fennell has been scoring races since 1981, when Motordrome was a dirt track, and has been involved in all aspects of the sport.

Fennell and her husband, Dan, originally were the track photographers at Motordrome.

"They needed a scorer, so Dan took over 100 percent of the photography and I went upstairs," Fennell said.

She has since scored races at 10 tracks in the area. She's also done radio shows and publishes the magazine titled Motorsports World.

Fennell has been working full time in the Lernerville office since Tom Roenigk and Barb Bartley took over as directors of the track last season.

"I've had a lot of different looks at racing," she said. "I can report it, I can write about it, I can photograph it - and I can score it."

Schaeffer has been scoring for 17 years and though she has two sons, Kevin and Matt, involved in the sport, she doesn't mind not being able to see much of the race.

In fact, she prefers it that way.

"I'm not a very good race mom," Schaeffer said. "I get nervous, edgy. … It's hard for me to watch. Scoring works out perfectly for me.

Schaeffer's oldest son, Kevin, drives the No. 9 Sprint car at Lernerville. Another son, Matt, races a quad at Shade Tree Speedway each Sunday, where Schaeffer also scores.

When Kevin Schaeffer wins a Sprint feature, sometimes his mother doesn't know.

"Somebody has to nudge me so I can hurry down to victory lane," she said. "If I'm not scoring the front (of the race), I don't see it," she said.

Schaeffer and her husband own Schaeffer Tire in Kittanning and Schaeffer fills in as a florist at a friend's shop on occasion.

But scoring races is the unique side of her life.

"It's difficult because you really have to be focused," she said of scoring. "It's total concentration.

"I've scored at lots of other tracks. You get calls asking you to fill in quite a bit. If my boys are racing somewhere else that day, I won't do it. I go where they go."

Scorers don't make any judgments during a race. The flagman makes all of those calls.

"We don't have any decisions to make," Fennell said. "We just have to know who's in what order. Believe me, that's hard enough."

Lernerville Speedway Points Leaders

Top 15 through June 17

Sprints

Rod George 152, Ed Lynch Jr. 144, Kevin Schaeffer 119, Arnie Kent 104, Dan Shetler 98, Scott Bonnell 97, Charlie Holben 93, Gary Rankin 91, Cory Good 87, Mike Shearer 83, Davey Jones 76, Brent Matus 73, Carl Bowser 69, Jack Sodeman Jr. 62, John Stickley 48

Late Models

John Flinner 133, Nick Jones 129, Mike Blose 129, Lynn Geisler 109, Ken Schaltenbrand 107, Bob Wearing Jr. 107, Chuck Kennedy 96, Chris Schneider 87, David Scott 85, Mike Johnson 85, Jared Miley 71, Tom Tuite 64, Carl McKinney 64, Dan Swartzlander 58, Bobby Hoffman 57

Modifieds

Dave Murdick 140, Jim Weller Jr. 132, Tom Winkle 131, Brian Swartzlander 127, Kevin Bolland 118, Mark Flick 113, Del Rougeux Jr. 111, JR McGinley 98, Chanda Reitz 90, Pete Simpson 84, Gary Risch Jr. 81, Phil Evans 69, Mike Turner 64, Keith Swartzlander 64, Carl Murdick 60

Pure Stocks

Greg Beach 124, Bobby Whitling 118, Mike Turner 111, Bob Lipinski 108, Bob Egley 101, Wayne Carbo 97, Dave Spangler 93, Jake Ayers 93, Jason Fosnaught 86, Butch Lambert 85, Paul Schreckengost 81, Mike Pegher Jr. 80, Herman Bertolini 76, Gary Norman 73, Rob Shook 73