BUFFALO TWP — Late Model competition is growing at Lernerville Speedway. So is the frequency of yellow flags.

The former might be responsible for the latter.

Saxonburg's Alex Ferree won the Late Model feature Friday night at the Sarver track. The 25-lap race had 11 restarts and took 33 minutes to complete.

Ferree started eighth, was second by the 12th lap and took over first when leader John Mollick had to pit before a 15th-lap restart.

Mollick pitted before the eighth restart of the feature. No more than four consecutive laps were run without interruption.

"I don't know what's going on, but this has to stop,"Mollick said. "This gets bad on the motors when you can't keep a car going out there."

Last week's Late Model feature had 16 restarts. There were 11 the week before that.

"My motor went bye-bye,"Mollick said of his reason for pitting. "It's a shame. I had a good car. I was just riding on cruise control and was going to step it up if somebody challenged me. I never saw Alex until just before my engine went.

"I'm not sure what happened to my motor. Did all those restarts play a factor?I don't know."

Ferree picked up his second win of the season at Lernerville. The No. 4 car and Late Model points leader has finished among the top five nine times.

"It's the increased competition that's causing the cautions,"Ferree said. "What I did here last year (nine feature wins, 17 top-5s) ... that type of season happens once in a career. Luck was on my side all year.

"Nobody is going to consistently beat this field of cars. John Flinner's back, guys like Ken Schaltenbrand, Jared Miley and Greg Satterlee are much better, John Mollick is vastly improved — everyone just keeps getting better."

Friday marked the 12th Fab Four Late Model feature at Lernerville this season. There have been nine different winners.

Mollick, Miley and now Ferree have posted two wins in the division this year.

Last week's winner, Sam Stile, started 12th Friday and finished second. Mike Blose started ninth and finished third, Chuck Kennedy 15th and finished fifth.

In other features:

n Leechburg's Brian Swartzlander started on the pole in the Modified race and led from start to finish. The win was his fifth feature triumph of the season at Lernerville — the most by any driver in any division — and his seventh feature win overall in 2008.

Swartzlander also won once at Sharon Speedway and found victory lane last Sunday at Tri-City.

"It certainly helps to start up front,"Swartzlander said. "When you're up front, you just run your line and hope you chose the right one."

Swartzlander has 10 top-five finishes at the Sarver track. He has 59 career Modified wins here.

• Kittanning's Kevin Schaeffer, who started fifth, passed Mike Lutz on the third turn of the final lap to win the Sprint feature. Lutz had passed pole-sitter Bob Felmlee on that same turn on Lap 12.

The No. 9 car slid underneath Lutz, who was riding the high groove, on Turn 3 and nipped him for the checkered flag.

"That move was there the lap before, but I couldn't get it done,"Schaeffer said. "I was hoping (Lutz) didn't see me. I don't think he did, because he gave me a wide-open lane at the end."

Schaeffer's win was his second of the season at Lernerville.

• Jason Fosnaught of Creighton started 14th in the Street Stock feature, but took the lead on the 13th lap to grab his second checkered flag of the campaign.

Fosnaught, division points leader Joe Kelley and Bob Lipinski ran three wide down the back straightaway on that 13th lap, briefly coming together. Kelley's No. 66 emerged from the contact with a flat tire.

"I was hoping I didn't get a flat tire in there,"Fosnaught said. "We were all fighting for position. Nobody was being dirty there."

Notes: There were 99 cars in the pits. ... Only 13 of 24 cars finished the Late Model feature. ... Five drivers — Dave Baker and Pat Hanley in Street Stocks, Todd Bauer and Troy Little in Sprints, Dan Swartzlander in Late Models — won their first heat races of the season. ... Felmlee won his seventh heat race, tops among all Lernerville drivers this year.