BUFFALO TWP — This Sprint turned into a marathon.

But for Rob Eyler, the end was worth waiting for.

The Franklin driver of the No. 5A survived two red lights, including a flip right in front of him on Lap 20, and a back-and-forth battle with Bob Felmlee to win the Sprint feature Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.

The win was Eyler's first at Lernerville. He has been racing a Sprint car since 1999.

"This one is nice — real nice," Eyler said. "I grew up around Sarver. It feels good to finally get one here. We usually run three races a year or so here, that's about it."

Eyler has run the majority of his races at Mercer and Tri-City. His sister, Chrissy, died of a heart attack recently. He admitted to thinking of her during the race.

"When we were sitting on the track after the red light with five laps to go, I thought about her," he said. "I thought of her during the heat race, too. I miss her."

The race took 39 minutes to complete. The first red light occurred when Evans City's Ralph Spithaler flipped off Turn 1 on the 16th lap. The second red occurred four laps later when Mike Kaminski and Sarver's Terry Bowser simultaneously flipped off the first turn.

"That (second) one happened right in front of me," Eyler said. "I saw debris all over the track. I stuck my hand out hoping Bob (Felmlee) would see me."

Felmlee took the lead on Eyler twice, only to lose it once to a caution and the other time on the back straightaway. Felmlee pitted during the second red after he blew a seal on his oil filter.

Rod George wound up finishing second while Butler's Brian Ellenberger took third.

"If I had another lap or two, I might have gotten Rod. But I don't know about Rob," Ellenberger said. "That second red really hurt me. I was running good at the time and lapped traffic was breaking for me."

"Rob was really good tonight," George said. "The red lights always benefit the guy in front. I think I was as fast as him, but he was in front of me."

Bowser complained of dizziness in the pits after his flip and was taken to the hospital for observation.

In other features:

n John Mollick of Toronto, Ohio, won his first Lernerville Late Model feature. He started fifth, took the lead on the seventh lap and held it the rest of the way. This is his fourth year of competition at the Sarver oval.

Mollick's only other career feature win was in a Super Late Model event at Latrobe Speedway in 2006.

"I was leading two races here last year and developed engine problems," Mollick said. "I was leading a race here two years ago and Dave Scott passed me with two laps to go."

Mollick pulled into victory lane with a flat right rear tire.

"One more lap and we wouldn't have won this one," he said. "I could feel something bobbling on that side of the car during that last lap. I didn't realize it was that bad."

Zelienople's John Flinner won the B-Main and started the feature 21st. He got as far up as second place before settling for fourth.

n Mike Pegher of Wexford started the Pure Stock feature sixth and claimed his first win of the season in that division, taking the lead from Joe Kelley on the eighth lap. The win was Pegher's third straight overall, including two consecutive Crate Late Model features as the driver of Lynn Geisler's car.

n Leechburg's Brian Swartzlander held off Tom Winkle of Mars to win his second Modified feature of the Lernerville campaign. He joined Kevin Bolland as the only two-time feature winners at the Sarver track so far this season.

Swartzlander started from the fourth spot, but took the lead immediately and never lost it. He recorded his 56th career Lernerville Modified win, and is fourth in that division all-time. He passed Johnny Beaber for eighth place on the overall win list.

Notes: There were 118 cars in the pits. ¿ Ed Lynch Jr. was absent from the Sprint field, opting to compete at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C. His qualifying time ranked second among the 32-car field Friday, but mechanical problems forced him out of the feature during the first lap. ¿ Jack Sodeman, Jr. of Butler raced at Lernerville for the first time this season and won his heat race. ¿ Garrett Krummert and Jim Weller Jr. flipped their Modifieds during the first heat race and did not return for the feature. Neither was hurt. ¿ The BRP Modified Tour highlights Fab Four racing at Lernerville next Friday.