BUFFALO TWP — Consistency wasn't the problem for Dave Murdick.

Through the first six weeks of Fab Four racing at Lernerville Speedway, the Slippery Rock resident and driver of the No. 61 Modified had finished no worse than sixth place and was in third place in the points standings.

Murdick, however, had missed out on victory lane in 2014 — something he took care of Friday night.

He lost an early lead to points leader Rex King, Jr., then regained the top spot on the 11th lap. Murdick withstood a caution flag on the 15th lap and a run-in with lap traffic late in the race to earn his 29th career checkered flag at the Sarver oval.

He was the third Butler County driver to win Friday, joining Saxonburg's Alex Ferree (Late Models) and Sarver's Carl Bowser (Sprints).

Despite his solid efforts prior to Friday, Murdick and his crew were looking to get over the hump.

“We seemed to be off a bit the first few weeks,” said Murdick. “I didn't know if I had anything left for him (King) when he got by me. We've been working on some things and they all seemed to go well for us tonight.”

It was Murdick's first win at Lernerville since Aug. 16 of last year.

“It seems like it's been a long time and we needed to get back (to victory lane).”

Ferree opened the night with his third Late Model victory of the season. He held the top spot in the standings by two points over Russ King before the race.

The latter grabbed the lead from Chuck Sarver on the second lap and held it through the 20th lap. It was on the restart after the event's fourth caution flag on the 21st lap when Ferree challenged King for the lead. For two rotations, the cars battled to lead the pack.

“Then he (King) just disappeared,” said Ferree. “I didn't know what happened to him.”

King had blown a tire, falling to third place on the 24th lap and ending up in tenth by the end of the race.

Ferree (three) and King (two) have accounted for five of the seven Late Model wins at Lernerville this season.

“It's been a lot of fun,” Ferree said. “Russ is having a heck of a year too. We're on top right now and have to ride this wave as long as we can.”

The track had endured several bouts of rain earlier in the day.

“I was concerned with the condition of the track,” added Ferree. “But it was smooth all night long. They did a great job getting it ready.”

Jack Sodeman, Jr. led throughout the first 18 laps of the Sprint feature. Then came a caution flag on the 19th lap and the ensuing restart.

That's when Bowser, who had already grabbed two victories here this year, went high and passed both Brandon Matus and Sodeman on the back straightaway. He never trailed afterwards.

“I won three races here a few years ago, but those came at the end of the season,” said Bowser. “This is definitely the best start to a season I've had.

“It just comes down to consistency,” he added. “We are running the same program and using the same shocks. I can just focus on racing.”

Chicora's Mike Miller came close to making it a clean sweep for Butler County drivers. He led the Sportsman Stock feature with three laps to go before Mark Sanders achieved his first win at Lernerville. Miller finished third.

Note: There were 79 cars in the pits, including a high of 22 Sportsman Stocks.