BUFFALO TWP - The number was haunting Brian Swartzlander.

Even though he never really put much thought into numbers and their meaning, Swartzlander admitted this one was sticking in his mind.

The number 100.

It had been a long time coming for Swartzlander, who was stuck on 99 career wins in the Modified division. It was a number that as each race passed and each new form of bad luck hit, he thought he might never reach.

"I've been waiting a long time for that 100th win," Swartzlander said. "To get it, finally, really feels good."

Swartzlander got it at Lernerville Speedway Friday night - a place where he hadn't won a feature since April 16 of last year and a place where bad luck seemed to rear its head on a regular basis.

It almost happened again, before Swartzlander even got to the track.

He had problems with the truck that hauls his car to the Sarver track. Swartzlander reached the track just minutes before the heat race.

"We didn't think we'd even get here," he said.

Swartzlander, though, cruised ahead of the pack for most of the feature race, deftly maneuvering through the thick lap traffic on a night of racing marred by a slew of yellows in all the races.

But Swartzlander avoided contact - and the poor fate that has stricken him at the track - to pick up his 44th career victory at Lernerville.

In doing so, he edged Dave Murdick of Slippery Rock, who gave Swartzlander a big hug in victory lane.

"I was just trying to stay out of trouble," Swartzlander said. "At the end, particularly the way things have gone for us lately, I was just waiting for the checkered."

It came, and it left some bad fortune for other drivers in its wake.

The bad luck bug seems to have passed to Chanda Reitz of Franklin. She won her heat race easily and was running second in the feature behind Swartzlander for 17 laps, slowly inching up on her competitor before pulling out of the race because of engine troubles.

"It just started knocking," Reitz said. "I don't know what it was. We're still trying to figure it out."

Reitz is one of two women who race regularly at Lernerville. Sheila Rankin of Renfrew is the other. Rankin races in the Sprint division.

This is the first season Reitz has raced regularly at Lernerville. She runs in as many as three races per week on occasion.

Reitz said she hasn't really given much thought on her influence on young girls who might wish to follow in her footsteps.

There was a large contingent of youth at the Sarver track Friday night because of a fireworks show.

"I would tell them it takes a lot of work," Reitz said. "I'm a single parent, and that makes it even tougher. I don't have a quote 'wife' at home. I do it all."

In other action at Lernerville Speedway Friday night:

Rod George continued his dominance in the Sprint division this season.

George led all 20 laps of the feature for his second win this season. He has finished in the top three in all five races this season.

"We've been running good almost every night," George said. "When things are going your way, you just try to milk it for all it's worth."

George, a Kittanning native, held off Ed Lynch Jr. of Apollo and Scott Bonnell of Fairview.

On the fifth lap, George vented some white smoke, causing a brief moment of concern.

"When I first saw it, I said, 'Oh, no,'" George said. "But I realized real quick it was nothing major."

George took advantage of the track conditions, too. Although the track looked slick to the casual eye, it was actually quite firm and sticky for the drivers.

George spent the majority of the race up top.

"We were running real good up top," George said. "The track looked real slick, but it really wasn't. It was quite nice."

This was the first full night of racing at Lernerville in a month because of poor weather and special shows.

Nick Jones of Pittsburgh used a late surge to capture the Late Model feature.

Jones passed Garland's David Scott on the 17th lap and held off Scott and Ken Schaltenbrand of Sarver to claim his second-straight feature win.

Wayne Carbo of Mars claimed the Pure Stock feature, grabbing the lead on the third lap and held off Dave Spangler of Renfrew for the win.

Notes:

There were 105 cars in the pits. … Carbo's win was the first in his career. … Next week Lernerville Speedway will host the All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprints and MACS Late Models.