BUFFALO TWP - Points championships usually don't mean much to John Flinner.

But now the Zelienople driver of the No. 48 Late Model is trying to go where no one has gone in the 38-year history of Lernerville Speedway: Win five consecutive points titles in one division.

"Yeah, this year's a little different," Flinner acknowledged.

Lou Blaney won four consecutive Sprint points titles at Lernerville from 1972 through 1975. Joe Kelley won four consecutive Pure Stock crowns from 1998 through 2001.

Flinner is already the first Late Model driver to win four straight titles. Dave Hoffman won three in a row from 1975 to 1977 and Lynn Geisler won three straight from 1992 to 1994.

Geisler hasn't won a points title at Lernerville since

He did win last week's feature to pull into second in this year's points battle with 146 - 20 behind Flinner.

"It's hard to win here because any one of 10 (Late Model) cars is capable of winning the feature," Flinner said. "Points get spread out."

Long gone are the days when Bob Wearing Sr. won the Late Model feature on a weekly basis at Lernerville. Flinner himself has just one feature win at the Sarver track this season - May 6 - and has yet to take the checkered flag in a heat race.

He won three features and four heat races at Lernerville last season.

"Late Models are so competitive here, that's why I decided to run at Lernerville this year," Mike Blose of Dayton said. "The pill draw is important because you need to run near the front."

Blose won points championships at Marion Center in 2000 and claimed the Mid-Atlantic Championship Series points crown in 2001.

He has yet to win at Lernerville in 2005.

"We've had a rough year in that we've rarely been up front," Flinner said. "We haven't been able to figure out how to get a good pill draw, especially in the heat races."

But Flinner knows how to finish up front. He had to tag the back of the field because of an accident early in last week's feature, but rallied to finish fourth.

Blose and Nick Jones - his closest competitors in points at the time - finished 17th and 21st after experiencing misfortune on the track.

Flinner has five top-five finishes this season. No other Late Model driver has more than three.

"A fifth-place finish is a bad night for John Flinner," Jones said. "He's so consistent and that's why he's so successful.

"Finishing races is more important than finishing first when it comes to points. There's only a two-point difference between first and second. Get a DNF and you get no points.

"I've had my DNF this year. So has Blose. John hasn't had his yet - and maybe he won't," Jones added.

Blose doesn't anticipate Flinner falling short of his fifth title.

"I don't know who's gonna take it from him," he said. "John's got the money behind him, a lot of knowledge and he's a good driver. He's got it all."

And there aren't a lot of points nights left.

"I was talking to a driver in May who pointed out there were only 10 points nights left even then, what with all the special shows they have now," Flinner said.

"There's no denying that it takes a lot of luck to win four of these (points titles) in a row and I've been lucky. The car's stayed solid, we've avoided any serious damage and the crew's stayed together.

"This is my last year of running the points deal. Getting another (title), setting a new standard, would be cool. This is a prestigious track. Everyone likes to run here and we've been good here," Flinner added.

Flinner has talked about retirement in the past. Now he's talking about running in a few more special shows and becoming strictly a driver.

"Being involved with the car has been fun, but it's getting tiresome," he said. "We do all our work at the shop and it's a mess there … I just want to drive. I've had a swimming pool at home for a while and haven't had a chance to enjoy it.

"I love being a race car driver. If I can just do that, I'm gonna keep doing it."

With 39 career wins at Lernerville, he'd like a few more.

"We still haven't been right on target here this year," Flinner said. "We've still got work to do."

Lernerville Speedway

Points Standings

(top 15 through July 1)

Sprints

Rod George 182, Ed Lynch Jr. 182, Kevin Schaeffer 156, Arnie Kent 138, Dan Shetler 122, Cory Good 119, Charlie Holben 113, Gary Rankin 107, Carl Bowser 100, Mike Shearer 99, Scott Bonnell 97, Brent Matus 97, Davey Jones 90, Jack Sodeman Jr. 62, John Stickley 57

Late Models

John Flinner 166, Lynn Geisler 146, Bob Wearing Jr. 141, Mike Blose 139, Nick Jones 135, Chuck Kennedy 131, Ken Schaltenbrand 130, Chris Schneider 117, Jared Miley 93, David Scott 85, Mike Johnson 85, Carl McKinney 79, Tom Tuite 76, Boby Hoffman 76, Gary Lyle 69, Jeff Jones 69

Modifieds

Dave Murdick 178, Jim Weller Jr. 169, Brian Swartzlander 160, Tom Winkle 155, Kevin Bolland 146, Mark Flick 141, JR McGinley 131, Del Rougeux Jr. 120, Pete Simpson 111, Chanda Reitz 104, Gary Risch Jr, 95, Phil Evans 81, Mike Turner 79, George Hobaugh 70, Keith Swartzlander 69

Pure Stocks

Greg Beach 148, Bobby Whitling 140, Bob Lipinski 138, Bob Egley 128, Jake Ayers 123, Paul Schreckengost 116, Dave Spangler 116, Mike Pegher Jr. 115, Butch Lambert 114, Mike Turner 112, Wayne Carbo 111, Jason Fosnaught 104, Herman Bertolini 77, Pat Hanley 75, Gary Norman 73, Rob Shook 73