BUFFALOTWP — The defending champs defended their dirt Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.

All four of the 2005 points champions at the Sarver track — Ed Lynch Jr. in Sprints, Dave Murdick in Modifieds, John Flinner in Late Models and Butch Lambert in Pure Stocks — reached victory lane in their respective features.

Lynch and Murdick all started in the front row and each led his race from start to finish.

Flinner, the five-time Late Model points champion from Zelienople, won through more unconventional means.

Returning to Lernerville for the first time since flipping his No. 48 car during the World of Outlaws Late Model event here April 18, Flinner started from the ninth position. He was in fourth place by the fifth lap.

On the 17th lap, pole-sitter Chuck Kennedy of Mars spun out on Turn 1 and third-place driver Dave Hess stalled on the back straightaway.

Flinner suddenly was second behind Lynn Geisler of Cranberry Township for the 18th-lap restart.

"He's so competitive,"Flinner said of Geisler. "He's 10 years older than me, yet he still has that drive. I have so much respect for that guy."

Flinner passed Geisler on the 20th lap and survived two restarts to post his 36th career Late Model feature win at Lernerville.

Bob Wearing Sr. has 117 Late Model wins here while Geisler has 104. Flinner is third on the all-time list.

Winning the Modified feature meant a lot to Slippery Rock's Murdick Friday night. It was his first feature win at any track this year.

The win also was his 12th Modified triumph at Lernerville, breaking a tie with his father, Carl, for 12th on the track's all-time list.

"We worked hard on the motor all week,"Murdick said. "We tore the front end off it and rebuilt it. Still, I didn't feel comfortable at the start of this race. I wasn't sure what to do out there."

Starting on the pole in a race that had no restarts, all Murdick had to do was stay in front.

He did exactly that, weaving through lapped traffic while keeping veteran drivers Brian Swartzlander and Jim Weller Jr. in second and third, respectively.

Swartzlander, who is driving Gary Risch's No. 3Gcar, has finished second on all three of the Fab Four racing nights at Lernerville this season.

He has won races the past three Saturdays at other tracks while driving his own No. 83.

"I can't complain about that kind of consistency,"Swartzlander said.

Lambert, of Mars, posted his 15th career Lernerville Pure Stock win, starting on the pole and leading 13 of the 15 laps. Greg Beach of Chicora started 16th and finished second.

Lambert briefly lost the lead to Jason Fosnaught when he bobbled on Turn 4 late in the race. But Fosnaught bobbled himself before the lap was completed, enabling Lambert to quickly jump back in front.

"With all the moisture, the cushion kept changing. It's just something you had to watch for," Lambert said. "This was a good night to start up front."

Beach wasn't sure he'd be starting at all. The No. 33X had to be pushed back to the pits during the heat races.

"We got it back to the pits and changed a bunch of stuff — the carburetor, the distributor. ... I have no idea how we fixed it, but we did," he said.

Lynch started on the pole for the Sprint feature and never lost the lead despite five restarts. He picked up his track-record 79th Sprint win at Lernerville and became the track's first two-time winner this season.

Notes:Skip Dougherty suffered a violent flip in his No. 27 Sprint car during the feature's final lap. His car hit the steps in front of the flag-stand and flipped four times, sailing higher than the top of the fence at one point. Dougherty emerged from the car and walked with a limp to the ambulance to be evaluated. ... There were a season-low 77 cars in the pits for a Fab Four night. ... Lynch took over the Sprint points lead while Geisler (Late Models), Swartzlander (Modifieds) and Lambert (Pure Stocks) lead their respective point races. ... The World of Outlaws Commonwealth Clash Sprint race takes place here next Friday. Pit gates open at 4 p.m., grandstands open at 5, time trials are at 7:15, racing starts at 8 p.m.