SARVER — Dirt track racing and the Swartzlander name go hand in hand.

Add the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame to that equation.

Dick Swartzlander, who once won 42 feature races in a season and claimed three feature wins on the same night at Lernerville Speedway, enjoyed a 62-year career as a driver and car owner in racing. He will be inducted into the BCSHOF at the organization's annual banquet at 6 p.m. April 13 at the Butler Days Inn.

Swartzlander, 88, is already a member of the Lernerville Speedway Hall of Fame and Pittsburgh Circle Track Hall of Fame.

“I'm very pleased to be recognized in this way,” Swartzlander said. “My wife and I spend five months a year down in Florida now, but we'll be coming up for that dinner, to be sure.”

Swartzlander drove cars in many divisions during his career and won 476 features, along with eight track championships.

“I'm very proud of those,” he said of his track titles. “I got two at Lernerville, two at Franklin, two at Marion Center.”

He also claimed track titles at Knox and Shippenville.

The Swartzlander family has been involved in racing since 1932, when his father and three uncles bought a Sprint car built on an old Essex frame.

Yet Swartzlander himself didn't start racing once he was old enough. He got a college degree, then spent three years in the Marines.

He was ready to re-enlist when his first wife, Pearl, bought him the first car he would ever race. That kept Swartzlander from re-enlisting after the Korean War.

“I didn't have a problem with military life,” he said. “Once I got out, I found that all my friends were married and there was no one to sit around and drink beer with.

“I came home one day and there was this old 1936 coupe sitting in the yard. My wife said it was mine. That's how it all got started for me.”

When it comes to family, Swartzlander has been far from alone in the racing world. His father and two brothers were part of his team, along with his uncle Neal Swartzlander and Jeff Swartzlander.

Swartzlander's nephew, Brian, is the all-time Lernerville Speedway feature wins leader in Modifieds with 95.

When Swartzlander stopped driving a race car himself in the late 1980s, he worked on his son Dan's car until his son quit racing three years ago.

“Racing was always a good family thing for us,” Swartzlander said. “When our kids were little, I raced at five tracks a week. We'd pack the kids up and bring them along.

“I raced my own cars and drove for other people. We ran multiple divisions. I'd come off the track in one car, jump in another and head back out.”

Swartzlander would race for more than 100 laps in one night at times. He is the only driver to win three feature races in one night at Lernerville, doing so in the Sprint, Late Model and Modified divisions.

“Sometimes fans would get tired of my winning and I'd hear comments,” he said, laughing. “But for the most part, fans would cheer you from the stands and I always appreciated that support.”

Swartzlander eventually stopped racing because he felt he no longer had a competitive car. His son Dan got out of it because of the rising costs of the sport.

“A new chassis would cost $18,000, a motor is worth $40,000 ... he told me, 'Dad, we had our day. But I think we're done,'” he said.

Swartzlander admitted he rarely goes to the race track anymore.

“I go occasionally, but I'm careful about it,” he said. “It's like an alcoholic walking by a bar ... I want to be careful not to get hooked again.

“But racing's given me a wonderful life. I wouldn't trade any of those memories.”

Tickets for the banquet are $40 in advance and are available at Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, Butler Radio Network on Pillow St., Parker Appliance in Chicora, Snack n Pack in Butler and Saxonburg Drug. Tickets will be $45 at the door.