Ellenberger claims 3rd feature victory of year
BUFFALO TWP — Brian Ellenberger has raced for the checkered flag at numerous venues, but winning in his own backyard never gets old.
The Butler resident won the Mid-Season Championship Sprint Feature Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.
It was his second straight win at the Sarver oval, third this season and his ninth win in his career at Lernerville.
“I started racing here in 1997 and have learned a lot in the last 15 years,” said Ellenberger, who has raced at several tracks this season, including some action in Florida earlier this year. “Being patient is the name of the game.”
It certainly paid off for him in his latest race.
Through the first 18 laps of the 25-lap event, it was Rod George and Sarver's Carl Bowser battling for the lead.
But by the 19th lap, the leaders ran into lapped traffic and Ellenberger, who had spent most of the race to that point lurking in third place, made his move.
He passed Bowser up for the top spot on lap No. 21 and never gave it up. Bowser finished a distant second and George came in third.
“Thank goodness we got into the lapped traffic,” Ellenberger said. “That's what I was hoping for. My car just gets better at the end of a race.”
The win guarantees Ellenberger a spot in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup Sprint event, slated for July 17.
“I was in it last year, I love that race,” Ellenberger said. “I'm looking forward to it.”
• The night's most exciting finish came in the last feature, the Sportsman Stock event.
The race was marked by three caution flags early on, but when the dust settled, heat race winners Jim Fosnaught and Corey McPherson were taking turns leading the pack.
As both drivers negotiated Turn 4 on the final lap, McPherson was on top, while Fosnaught remained in the middle of the track. Fosnaught's momentum forced his car into McPherson's and the latter was nearly pinned against the wall. McPherson, the division points leader entering Friday, had just enough speed at the end to win the race.
“He gave me a challenge,” McPherson said of Fosnaught. “He sort of got into me at the end, but it's all good. It was a really good race.”
It was McPherson's second straight win at Lernerville and his fourth in 2012. It secures McPherson a spot in September's Autumn-Motive Fest 2012 Sportsman Stock Spectacular.
• Jared Miley continued his great season at Lernerville, winning his fourth Late Model event. The win was supposed to lock up a spot in the upcoming Firecracker 100, but Miley already had a spot in the event for leading the division in points.
The sixth annual Firecracker is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday.
“It would be nice to win it for sure,” said Miley. “If we get our car right, we have a chance.”
• For the second time in three weeks, Brian Swartzlander won the Modified event, this time surviving a late caution flag that brought him back to the pack.
Swartzlander took over the top spot on the very first lap, but dropped to fourth by the sixth lap. He rebounded by moving out in front on lap No. 15 and remained there for the duration of the race. With the victory, he qualifies for the Steel City Stampede Oct. 25-27.
Notes: There were 90 cars in the pits, with a high of 26 Sportsman Stocks and a low of 19 Modifieds. ... Lernerville's 2010 Sprint points champion, Danny Holtgraver, won at Attica Raceway Park in Ohio Friday night in an All-Star Sprint Series event.
