BUFFALO TWP — Alex Ferree may be the two-time defending Late Models point champion at Lernerville Speedway.

And entering Friday night's feature race, he was leading the division's chase for points once again with 209.

But for the veteran driver from Saxonburg, the 2009 season had been disappointing because he had not rolled into victory lane.

Ferree no longer has that monkey on his back after taking the checkered flag in Friday's 25-lap event.

Ferree took first place from Denton Boyer on the 12th lap and held off Uniontown's Doug Horton.

Horton did manage to lead the pack on laps 16-17.

"Doug was right up there with me," said Ferree. "It was great racing, clean racing."

The win, the 15th of Ferree's career at Lernerville, came in the midst of 11 caution flags.

"Every time I seemed to get a bit of a lead on Doug, the caution would come out and I'd think, 'Ah, man!', said Ferree.

Ferree had victory in his sights several times before during this season, including July 3 when he was leading the feature race with a few laps to go before breaking an axle.

"That's the way this year's gone for me," he said. "The last two years I have been real lucky. But this year, when we've been running well, something would break, and the rest of the time I wasn't running well at all."

That's harsh self-criticism for a driver who is in line to win his third straight points title.

"That's my ultimate goal this year, to win the points," he said. "I live seven miles from this track. Why would I race anywhere else?"

• Another driver coming off a points title who won for the first time this season at Lernerville was Bob Egley, who won the Pure Stock feature after leading 17 of the race's 20 laps.

The only laps in which he did not pace the field were the first, when Saxonburg's Wayne Carbo held the lead, and laps 13-14 when Bob Lipinski was in front.

Lipinski and Egley battled it out late in the race, but the latter held on for the win.

• Australian native Steve Lines won the Sprint feature, leading all 25 laps.

"This isn't my first win in the United States, but it has to be the biggest," said Lines, who also raced at the Sarver oval in 2008. "It's a big task to come over here. This is our last week and it was good to finish strong."

Lines beat out Jack Sodeman, Jr. and Ed Lynch, Jr., who finished second and third, respectively.

• The Modified feature saw Carl Weatherby, Harrisville's Dean Pearson and Jeremiah Shingledecker pace the field before veteran Kevin Bolland took over on the 20th lap and held off a late charge from Del Rougeux for the checkered flag.

"I didn't know if I had what it takes to beat those guys tonight," said Bolland. "It was pretty tight up front."

Slippery Rock's Dave Murdick placed fourth.

Notes: There were 81 total cars in the pits, with a high of 25 Sprints and a low of 17 Late Models and Modifieds. ... Complete results were not available. ... Fab Four racing returns to the track Friday night.