BUFFALO TWP - With a 60-lap race, Chub Frank employed a fable to keep things on an even keel.

By doing so, he finds himself $20,000 richer this weekend.

Frank, of Bear Lake, found himself trailing Darrell Lanigan for the first 38 laps of Friday's World of Outlaws Late Model Series race at Lernerville Speedway before finally working his way past the Union, Kent. driver.

Frank would eventually pull away with ease, opening up more than a one-quarter lap lead and cruised to the victory.

Frank's car was the most dominant on the evening, having recorded the fastest time trials (15.831 and 15.851 seconds), winning the first heat and the dash, a six-lap race among the four heat winners.

"When you hit the cushion, you can run faster," said Frank. "(Lanigan) was two seconds ahead at the start of that lap and I caught him.

"It's better to be the tortoise than the hare. I wanted to be consistent and run him down," Frank added.

It was Frank's second World of Outlaws win at Lernerville, having also won in April of 2004.

I love this place," said Frank. "It's well groomed. In the spring race, it rained and there was nothing you could do about it. When the track is like this (Friday) … I need to come here 10 times a year."

The pay-out was the largest for that division in Lernerville history as was the total purse of $82,100.

Lanigan, who finished second to Billy Moyer in the April 29 WoO race at Lernerville, led the first 38 laps, holding off several charges by Frank and sometimes even putting a few cars length between the pair.

Frank believed he could eventually take the lead.

"I was in no hurry," said Frank. "I knew what I wanted to do. (Lanigan) was running the cushion and I was too tight to run the cushion."

"Any time you run up and get the cushion, it's great," said Lanigan. "But the one time you screw up, it's over.

"I knew Chub would be there on the bottom," he added.

Said Moyer, "It was hard to pass. I was just happy with my car. I just couldn't beat the guy off the corner."

Throughout the entire race, the top four spots were held by the same drivers: Frank, Lanigan, Moyer of Batesville, Ark. (third) and Rick Eckert of York.

Steve Francis of Ashland, Kent., who entered the race as the WoO points leader, finished fifth.

While Frank has won two of his four WoO races at Lernerville, he knows it's a matter of time before others make a stronger push.

"These guys will catch up in a hurry," said Frank, who may run more races here next year. "There's a lot of good guys that haven't been here. Once they get here a few times, they'll catch up.

"I just have to stay ahead of them. They'll figure it out, then I'll have to figure something else out."

In the Pure Stocks event, Andy Buckley of Stoneboro won his first Lernerville feature by leading the final 10 laps, holding off a fast-charging duo in Butch Lambert of Mars and Joe Kelley of Mt. Pleasant, both of whom won the two heat races.

"It's been a dream of mine for a long time," said Buckley. "A lot of my friends have won at Lernerville. I've had some bad luck and should have won once or twice."

With Lambert, who finished second, and Kelley (third), Buckley enjoyed seeing them in the rear-view mirror - and staying there.

"As long as they were racing each other, they wouldn't get to me," Buckley noted.

Notes:

There were 51 participants for the Late Models event … There were no points awarded in the Pure Stocks race … Zelienople's John Flinner blew a tire on the eighth lap and was able to return under the caution, but finished 13th … Lynn Geisler of Cranberry Township was involved in two accidents. He would eventually finish 16th … Fab Four racing returns to the Sarver oval this Friday.