BUFFALO TWP - They come from similar worlds but their 2004 racing seasons have been completely different.

Yet Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell - ranked 1-2 on the World of Outlaws career feature victory list - comprised the front row of Tuesday night's Commonwealth Clash at Lernerville Speedway.

And they stayed up front together for the entire 35-lap race.

"Any time Sammy has good equipment - and it looks like he does - he's going to be tough to contend with," Kinser said.

Swindell grabbed the lead off Turn 2 of the opening lap and held it until the third turn of Lap 22, when Kinser jumped in front of him.

The two wove their way through lap traffic together for the remainder of the race, with Kinser holding off Swindell for his ninth win of the season and 505th of his Outlaws career.

Kinser earned $10,000 by taking the checkered flag. His last win at Lernerville was exactly five years ago.

"The track was open and I left a spot where he could pass me," Swindell said. "We were running at about the same speed … pretty close anyway. I didn't get any breaks in traffic."

"Sometimes the worst place to be running is in front," Kinser said. "I could read the race better from where I was."

Both drivers now have 14 career Outlaw wins at Lernerville, tops on the circuit. Swindell has 260 career Outlaws feature wins, second to Kinser.

Both are 48 and both have sons getting into professional racing. Kraig Kinser is a rookie with the Outlaws series this year. Kevin Swindell, 15, might not be far behind.

"It takes a lot of money to do this," Swindell said. "I've been racing for 32 years. I've accomplished a lot in this sport, been to a lot of places. I'd like my son to be able to do the same thing."

So Swindell - a three-time Outlaws points champion - no longer runs the series on a full-time basis. Tuesday was only his second Outlaws appearance this season.

"I know I was a little rusty," he said. "But being able to lead the feature for 22 laps and earning a spot up front tonight was more than I could have expected."

Meanwhile, the beat goes on for Kinser. The 18-time Outlaws points champion is bidding to defend last year's points championship. With three victories, Jason Meyers is the only other Outlaws driver to win more than one feature this season.

"It gets tougher every year," Kinser said. "I have trouble bending over to tie my shoes these days. We've been struggling for the last two or three weeks, but tonight the car felt good from the heat race to the fast dashes to the feature."

Aliquippa product Tim Shaffer, the 1993 points champion at Lernerville, finished third in the feature. It was his second-highest Outlaws finish at his former home track.

Shaffer finished second to Ed Lynch Jr. in the 2002 Silver Cup race.

"I thought I could catch those guys with about 20 laps to go, but I pushed a little too hard," Shaffer said. "My tires got hot and they pulled away from me a little bit."

In other Commonwealth Clash news:

Lynch had the best finish among local drivers, starting 20th and finishing sixth.

Dale Blaney flipped in a Lap 2 collision. He was OK, but his No. 72 car couldn't continue.

Paul McMahan and Chad Kemenah were racing side-by-side for the final feature qualifying spot in the second heat race when McMahan got into the wall on the front straightaway and flipped, tearing down the catch fence.

The fence was repaired, and McMahan returned to win the B-Main and to finish 14th in the feature.

Donny Schatz turned the fastest lap in time trials at 13.084 seconds but did not threaten Joey Saldana's track record of 12.334, set May 15, 2002.

There were 55 cars in the pits, the second-best total for an Outlaws show this season. There were 65 cars on hand at the May 1 show in Knoxville, Iowa.

The Outlaws return to Lernerville for the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup race July 20.