BUFFALO TWP — Lernerville Speedway often puts fierce competition on display, but the Sarver Oval also cultivates a community atmosphere.

The latter yielded a more significant result than the racing on Friday night.

“The Cowboy” Brian Steinman was critically injured and flown by helicopter to Pittsburgh after a fiery wreck last week. The Sprint driver from Lucinda later underwent two surgeries to stabilize his spinal column, so the Lernerville fans responded Friday by raising $4,667.13 to aid Steinman's recovery.

Butler's Brian Ellenberger went wire-to-wire in the Sprint Feature on Friday and dedicated his fourth triumph of the season to Steinman in Victory Lane.

“It affects us,” said Ellenberger. “He's a friend, more than a friend, he's a fellow racer.

“You never want to see anybody get hurt. That kid is always smiling, always has a great attitude. I just hate to see it,” he continued. “It weighs on us, it weighs on me, it weighs on most of the drivers in here. We think about it, we think about him.”

Ellenberger pointed to a kinship among drivers, despite the occasional anger that comes along with battling for position on the track.

“There's no doubt about it,” he explained. “We're all enemies at times, we're all friends at times, but more importantly, we're all racers and we care about each other.”

The Modified feature showcased some of the rivalry Ellenberger initially alluded to.

After Brian Swartzlander led the first 11 laps of the race, Kevin Bolland took the top spot following a caution restart.

Bolland held the edge the rest of the way on the 25-lap feature until Swartzlander drew even on the back straightway of the final lap. Swartzlander then took a slight lead after Turn 3 and Bolland collided with the No. 83 car in Turn 4 and Swartzlander spun out while the checkered flag waved as Bolland crossed the finish line.

However, Bolland was disqualified for rough driving and Slippery Rock native Dave Murdick was the beneficiary.

Murdick began the two-lap shootout in front and held on for his second consecutive feature win. Swartzlander settled for fifth.

“It's not how I drew it up, but sometimes you have to be lucky,” Murdick said.

Murdick finished sixth of eight cars in his heat race and knew his No. 61 car needed some work.

“We had a good car, but we probably didn't have a winning car tonight,” he admitted. “We changed a lot of stuff because we were just too tight in the heat. We changed tires, springs, shocks ... not too much we didn't change.”

Murdick was unable to avoid Swartzlander when he spun in Turn 4 and the car had trouble steering after the restart on the shootout.

“I got into him a little bit and I probably did some damage somewhere,” Murdick said. “I'm glad it wasn't three laps.”

The Slippery Rock driver entered the night with the points lead, which widened with his third feature win on the season and 26th of his career.

“It's always good to be chased rather than chasing them,” he said.

Jared Miley continued his domination of the Late Models with his fifth trip to Victory Lane. He led from start to finish and has yet to finish outside of the top four in a feature this season.

He started on the pole and wasn't about to let anyone pass him.

“I figure if I don't go hard enough, someone is going to go by me,” Miley said, “so I just try to run as hard as I can without going off the racetrack.”

Corey McPherson has experienced similar success in the Sportsman division this year. Although he doesn't own a massive points lead like Miley, he also earned his fifth feature victory of the season on Friday.

The Tarentum driver seized the lead on Lap 8 and never relinquished the advantage.

“There was actually a nice cushion all the way around the track. It was really fast, a lot of fun,” said McPherson. “I like the outside because you can keep your momentum up.”

Ellenberger hopes to keep his momentum going into Tuesday's 21st annual Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup.

“This is a warm-up for Tuesday night for sure,” Ellenberger said. “We came in here with a new package and a motor that we've never run here before and I'm excited about what we found tonight.”

The Silver Cup will feature a pair of $10,000-to-win feature events.

“We're geared up and excited,” Ellenberger said. “Tuesday night is the big race and I'm looking forward to it.”

Notes: A Chinese auction will be held July 27 at Lernerville Speedway to raise funds for Steinman's recovery. ... There were 69 cars in the pits with a high of 24 Sportsmans. ... The Sprint feature had two red flags and three yellow flags and only nine cars were left on the track when the checkered flag waved. ... Chicora driver and defending Sportsman track champion Mike Miller finished second for the fourth time this year.