BUFFALO TWP - Friday night proved to be a double bonus night for Lynn Geisler and Dave Murdick.

Both picked up feature wins in their respective divisions and both took major strides toward winning 2005 points championships at Lernerville Speedway.

Geisler, the veteran Late Model driver from Cranberry Township, started seventh in the feature, but overtook pole-sitter Bob Wearing Jr. of Renfrew on the seventh lap.

David Scott passed Geisler on the back straightaway of the final lap and appeared primed to steal the checkered, but a caution came out before the lap was completed.

The race reverted to a 19th-lap restart as a result and Geisler held off another hard-charger, Nick Jones, to get the victory.

"Sometimes the cautions work out in your favor, sometimes they don't," Geisler said. "That's racing. I'll take luck in this sport over anything else."

Geisler's win was his third of the season at Lernerville and the 103rd Late Model triumph of his career at the Sarver track.

He moved into first place in the points race with 290. Jones is second with 280 while four-time defending track points champion John Flinner of Zelienople slipped to third with 277. Flinner spun out on the 12th lap Friday and had to settle for 15th.

"I'd be foolish to say the points title didn't mean anything to me this late in the season," Geisler said. "But tonight just made it a good points race. The lead doesn't mean much right now."

Jones stayed in the points hunt despite having to pit his car during his heat race.

"The driver forgot to put a nut on a bolt and it fell off," Jones said about why he pitted.

He made up for it in the feature, starting 19th and finishing second.

"We could have used another lap or so, but getting around Lynn is a chore," Jones said. "He has a million laps in at this place and he knows how to keep you behind him."

Murdick entered the night with a 14-point lead on Jim Weller Jr. in the Modified division. But Murdick widened his advantage by the end of the evening.

The Slippery Rock driver of the No. 61 car started third in the feature and grabbed the lead from pole-sitter J.R. McGinley on the 13th lap. Once he got in front, Murdick stayed in front.

While Murdick won the feature, Weller had to pit during the first lap and wound up 21st.

"Jim's a good guy and I was sorry to see that," Murdick said. "Yeah, it worked out for us, but I'd have rather raced him on the track."

Brian Swartzlander was doing plenty of racing on the track - after he attended the wedding rehearsal dinner of son, B.J., who is getting married this weekend.

Late Model driver Jim Kurpakus drove Swartzlander's No. 83 in the heat race to qualify it for the feature. Because Swartzlander didn't drive the car himself, he had to tail the field for the feature.

Swartzlander moved into the third spot by the 10th lap. He took over second place on the 15th lap.

"I needed a caution to come out over the final few laps and it didn't happen," Swartzlander said. "I might have had something for him (Murdick). I'm not sure because he was awfully fast. But it would have been nice to find out."

In other features:

Ed Lynch Jr. of Apollo started in the first row of the Sprint feature and led from start to finish. The win was his third of the season here and the 77th of his career, but it was the first since May 13.

"When you start up front, you better finish up front, or you're in trouble," Lynch said.

Lynch said he's been trying different things with the car in preparation for the World of Outlaws Knoxville Nationals in Tennessee beginning Aug. 10.

"When you keep working with your speed, sometimes you get a little slow," Lynch said. "It's give and take. You get a little slower in trying to get a little faster later.

"I'm about where I want to be. We just got the car we're racing in Knoxville on Wednesday. I may run it here next week to see how it handles."

Butch Lambert of Mars was the fourth and final leader of an action-packed Pure Stock feature. He took the lead from fellow Mars driver Wayne Carbo during a 14th-lap restart.

Lambert lost the lead to Joe Kelley during the final lap, but a caution came out to revert the race to another 14th-lap restart. This time, Lambert held on for the win.

He started from the ninth spot.

"I never thought I'd win from that far back, but it worked," Lambert said.

The win was Lambert's third this season and the 11th of his career at Lernerville. Terry Young of Butler, Carbo and Bob Lipinski also led the race for at least two laps each. Carbo led from laps 7 through 14.

Notes:

There were 110 cars in the pits. … Murdick's win was the 11th of his career at Lernerville, tying him with his father, Carl Murdick. … Keith Swartzlander finished fifth in the Modified feature for his first career top-five finish. … McGinley, grandson of the late Dick Rankin, has never won a feature in his seven-year career, but he finished second and third the past two weeks. "We're closing in on it," he said. "I thought tonight was gonna be the night." … Lernerville hosts the 100-lap DIRT Modifieds SuperDIRT Series race Wednesday night.