BUFFALO TWP — Growing up near the facility, Levi Yetter frequented Lernerville Speedway as a fan for years.

His uncle, Sarver resident Ken Schaltenbrand, is a two-time Late Model points champion at the Sarver oval. Living in Cabot, Yetter always followed Schaltenbrand’s career closely.

He wasn’t expecting to be following his uncle’s No. 29 car around the track in the Firecracker 100 — not this soon, anyway. But the 17-year-old incoming Knoch senior did exactly that on Saturday night.

“This is a special night for us,” Schaltenbrand said.

It’s been a special season for Yetter so far.

“I’ve come to most of the Firecracker 100 races just to watch,” Yetter said. “Now I just want to enjoy the racing experience of getting on the track with some of these (Lucas Oil Late Model Series) guys and learning from them.”

Yetter found himself racing with them in the 100-lap feature — something he didn’t figure on happening.

He was the youngest of the 56 Late Model drivers at the track and one of the most inexperienced. He is in his fourth season, having first gotten behind the wheel of a Late Model at age 14.

Yetter started fifth in his heat race. The top three finishers qualified for the Firecracker 100 and he was starting behind veterans Michael Norris of Saxonburg, Lucas Oil Series veterans Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, veteran driver Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., and the more experienced Colton Flinner of Allison Park.

The heat races were only 10 laps, not affording any driver much time to maneuver past other cars. But this heat race had four caution flags and Yetter was able to qualify by finishing third.

He wound up finishing 21st in the Firecracker 100. Schaltenbrand finished eighth after qualifying through a B-Main.

“Levi and I keep our (race) cars in the same shop,” Schaltenbrand said. “We always pit next to each other. I give him advice when he wants it ... sometimes he uses it, sometimes he doesn’t.

“He’s come a long way in four years, I’ll tell you that.”

The family’s original plan was to get Yetter in a Crate Late Model and eventually move up. But Todd Bachman was selling a Late Model and a motor for it became immediately available.

“We decided to go for it,” Yetter said.

His father, Shawn Yetter, preferred having Levi start right out in a Late Model and go through the growing pains.

“He was pretty much maxed out in go-karts and it was time to make a move,” Levi’s father said. “Most guys start out in a Pro Stock and move up from there. But this sport costs a lot of mobey.

“If we’re going to invest, I’d rather go right to the division he’s going to spend years in. Why put money into a Stock if he’s only going to be driving it for two years or so? Let’s get a car and pick up pieces and parts for it as we go.

“Adjusting to the track, getting a feel for racing at that level, I figured it’d take 10 years for Levi to get all of that down. Going from the 9 horsepower of a go-kart to 900 horsepower of a Late Model is quite a jump. But he’s settling in now.”

Yetter is fifth in the Lernerville Late Model points right now with 127. He trails Schaltenbrand by two and leader Tyler Dietz of Saxonburg by 33.

Yetter has one top-5 finish and three top-10’s through five Fab4 racing nights thus far. Lernerville’s next Fab4 race card is July 7.

“Lance Wright does a lot of work on the car and deserves a lot of the credit,” Yetter said. “We were pretty consistent last year, too, finishing in the top 10 on most nights.”

“Lance and Barry Wright do the chassis work on this car and they came up from South Carolina for this (Firecracker 100) weekend,” Shawn Yetter said. “That’s how much they care about what Levi’s doing.

“If I was his age, racing against the best Late Model drivers out there, I’d be shaking in my boots. Levi just takes everything in stride. Nothing really gets to him.”

Yetter plays lacrosse and golfs for Knoch High School. He used to be a pitcher in baseball.

“He’d come in with two outs, bases loaded, totally unfazed,” his father recalled. “Same thing here.”

Yetter also races at Marion Center, where he’s had some seconds and thirds. He is still looking for his first career feature win.

“I know it’s coming. I’ve been close,” Yetter said. “My uncle has been a big help in my development. I can’t thank him enough.”