BUFFALO TWP — Michael Norris is well aware of the difference between 30 and 100 laps.

The Knoch graduate and Sarver resident is getting better and better at excecuting his knowledge of that difference on the track at Lernerville Speedway.

After finishing second in the 30-lap feature during Firecracker 100 weekend last Friday, Norris, 29, started seventh in the Firecracker 100 race itself Saturday night. He finished seventh as well.

“In a 30-lap race, you just go as hard as you can for as long as you can,” Norris said. “When it's 100 laps, it's a marathon. You have to time things properly, knowwhen you want your car to be its fastest.”

Norris knows plenty about being fast.

Over the past four seasons, he's won two World of Outlaws 30-lap Late Model features at Lernerville and finished second in two others.

“Homefield advantage,” his father and crew chief, Mike Norris, said. “We know where all the potholes are.”

Norris knows his increasing success on the track against the world's best Late Models runs much deeper than that.

“Any success I'm having in racing is a testament to my father. He's taught me everything I know,” Norris said.

Indeed, the elder Norris had a solid racing career in his own right.

He wound up in double figures in feature wins and claimed the 2006 Late Model points championships at Latrobe Speedway. Latrobe's track closed shortly afterward.

Mike Norris closed the door on his racing career as well — at least behind the wheel.

“That was enough for me,” he said. “I knew how badly Michael wanted to race. He'd been around this all his life. I wanted to help him get started.”

Good move. He hasn't stopped since.

A third-generation driver, Michael Norris went on to win Lernerville Late Model track championships in 2017 and 2018. He's got 33 career feature wins at the Sarver oval.

He appreciates every one of them.

“There was a time when I hated this track,” Norris said of Lernerville. “We really struggled here. We were really bad here.

“To do what we're doing now ... my crew, all the guys who work on this car, my dad, so many people have played a factor.”

Norris no longer runs for points at Lernerville. The No. 72 car has raced at Port Royal, down in Florida and in other WoO Late Model events. The Norris team races here at home on occasion.

Norris grew up helping out at the family's auto salvage business, putting junked cars back together and getting them running again.

“My family's blood has been in this for so many years,” Norris said. “My father raced with very little money. They did everything they could just to put a car on the track. You have to respect what they were able to accomplish.”

Norris has approximately 50 career feature wins, admitting “I don't know exactly where I'm at there, but I know I'm close.”

He figures to reach victory lane quite a few more times before he calls it a career.

And his dad remains his biggest fan.

“Michael always hung around the pits with us when I was racing,” his father recalled. “He began helping out and wanted to drive when he was 14.

“He's developed into quite a driver. He knows how to maneuver. He knows the car, knows the tire, can figure out what he needs by running a few laps. The big thing is, he never quits on a race.

“He's only going to get better,” his father added.

Norris' brother-in-law, Nico DiBecco, runs a RUSH Late Model. Michael helps him out by running that car at the big races.

He finished 10th in the 50-lap Bill Emig Memorial Saturday night, moments after racing all 100 laps of the Firecracker 100.

“It's a lot of running around, hurrying up, and it's grueling on hot nights like this,” Michael Norris said. “But this is our family thing.

“This is what we're about.”