BUFFALO TWP— For Kevin Schaeffer, it's not about who he is. It's about who he joined.

Schaeffer, 27, of Kittanning, ended Ed Lynch Jr.'s three-year hold on the Lernerville Speedway Sprint car points championship Friday night by winning his heat race and finishing fourth in the feature.

That combination gave the driver of the No. 9 car 422 points for the season, 25 more than Lynch.

"Dale Blaney, Rod George, Johnny Beaber ... and Ed Lynch Jr. ... It didn't hit me until tonight what names have won this title,"Schaeffer said about Lernerville's Sprint points crown. "To get my name on a list like that is just awesome."

Schaeffer clinched the only points title still up for grabs Friday night at the Sarver track. Lynn Geisler (Late Models), Kevin Bolland (Modifieds) and Butch Lambert (Pure Stocks) clinched titles last week.

Schaeffer began Lernerville's final points night with a 16-point lead on Lynch, but any anticipation of a nightlong points battle ended during the heat races.

Lynch broke his front end coming around Turn 3 of his heat race, flipping the car. Damage to the wing forced him to the pits to prepare for the feature.

When Schaeffer won his heat race, he took a practically insurmountable 22-point lead into the feature event.

Lynch held the points lead most of the season but lost it two weeks ago when he traveled to Knoxville for a World of Outlaws event.

"I wasn't just gonna give it up,"said Lernerville's three-time defending points champion. "I came back to go at it hard. It didn't work out.

"There weren't enough cars tonight. Kevin could have just idled around the track and won it."

Only 17 Sprint cars were in the pits, but Schaeffer went for the checkered flag like everyone else.

"You have to race that way,"he said. "If you start thinking about doing anything else, that's when you get into trouble."

This season marks Schaeffer's first Lernerville points crown. He won the Sprint points title at Challenger Raceway in 2000 and won at Sharon Speedway in 2004.

He finished the 2006 points season at Lernerville with three feature wins, five heat wins and 10 top-five finishes. Lynch had five feature wins, four heat wins and 11 top-five finishes.

"I know people will make a big deal about Ed giving up a week to go to Knoxville," Schaeffer said. "But he does that every year and still wins points championships here.

"I've been gaining on him (in the points race) for the past few weeks. My crew deserves credit for keeping the car together. I know I've gotten better year to year.

"Look at Lynch and (Rod)George. They are always among the leaders. Those guys have been racing almost as long as I've been alive. It takes a while to build that consistency,"Schaeffer added.

Lynch hinted that he might take a few more weeks off from Lernerville next season.

"If they don't increase the purse money, I have to go race for more money,"he said. "This sport's too expensive to race just for fun. You have to offset the bills somehow."

Winning a Lernerville points title wasn't the highlight of Schaeffer's racing season.

"My son (Elliott) being born — nothing's going to top that," he said.

In other action at Lernerville Friday night:

• Scott Bonnell of Fairview won the Sprint feature, taking the lead from pole-sitter Arnie Kent during a 13th-lap restart. The win was Bonnell's second of the season here.

"I feel bad for Arnie because I wanted him to get that first victory,"Bonnell said. "But the high groove was the place to be tonight. If I could slide up there in front of him, I knew he'd be struggling the rest of the way."

• Sammy Stile of Charleroi wrapped up second place in the Late Model points race by leading the feature from wire to wire.

The victory was Stile's third feature win at Lernerville this season — most by any Late Model driver.

"I was 11th in points 2Z\x months ago,"Stile said. "I'm very pleased with the way the year wound up for me here."

• Brian Swartzlander of Leechburg couldn't catch Bolland in the Modified points race last week, but he passed him on the track this week.

Starting from the seventh position, Swartzlander passed Bolland on the 12th lap and cruised to his 48th career Modified feature win here. Only Lou Blaney (69), Bob Wearing Sr. (62) and Blackie Watt (61) have more.

Swartzlander's win was his second at Lernerville this year and first while driving Gary Risch Jr.'s No. 3Gcar.

"We've had a lot of second places this year,"Swartzlander said. "I'm glad I was finally able to get one for the Risches because they gave me a good car to work with all year."

• Greg Beach of Chicora continued his torrid late-season run by winning his fifth Pure Stock feature in the last six tries.

He started on the pole and led from start to finish.

"I can't remember the last time I started on the pole,"Beach said. "The only bad thing about it is you can only go backwards from there."

Notes: There were 88 cars in the pits. ... During the feature, Sprint car driver Scott Priester of Rimersburg flipped his No. 11X at the end of the front straightaway, bouncing it over the guard rail and into the fence. He was unhurt.