BUFFALO TWP - Chub Frank was good. He just wasn't good enough.

Trying to repeat his April come-from-behind win over Dale McDowell in the World of Outlaws Late Model feature race at Lernerville Speedway, Frank settled for a distant second in the 50-lap WoO Late Model feature Friday night at the Sarver track.

Considering the Sugar Grove, Pa., driver started 16th and drove the final 49 laps with a broken rear spoiler, runner-up wasn't so bad.

"When we first started, I figured maybe I could get into the top five," Frank said. "When I lost that spoiler early, to still get second … I'm very satisfied.

"Dale gave me that last race here. I didn't think he was gonna give me another one."

Frank jumped from fourth to second on the fourth turn of the 39th lap, when he hit the cushion high, then darted low and in between Rick Eckert and Steve Francis, passing them both.

McDowell, from Chickamauga, Ga., started third, grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Billy Moyer on the 12th lap and maintained it.

As he weaved through lap traffic, McDowell extended his lead and easily took home the $10,000 first-place money.

"The track was racy all night," McDowell said. "I didn't know where to go, so I just stayed up top and it worked for me.

"Lap traffic was the most challenging part because every car out there was racing hard."

McDowell's win was his sixth of the year, snapping a tie with Scott Bloomquist and Eckert for most on the WoO tour this season.

"Down south, the tracks don't change all that much," McDowell said. "They get a little slicker, but there's always traction.

"Tracks up here change every two or three seconds. It took me a while to adjust, but I've learned to handle them. Now I don't run that well down south."

Eckert started fourth and finished third. He withstood a furious challenge from Zelienople's John Flinner, who battled Eckert for that spot continuously before having to pit prior to a 37th-lap restart.

A broken axle tube ended Flinner's night. He was credited with 20th place.

"He must have had a good car, because I thought I was going good and he was zipping past me coming off those cushions," Eckert said. "I saw him fly by and figured I better pick it up a bit."

The fourth and fifth-place finishers - Francis and Tim McCreadie - were provisional starters (23rd and 24th) after failing to qualify for the feature.

Francis, the series' current points leader, broke a valve spring during his heat race, then finished fourth in a B-Main that qualified the top three to the feature.

McCreadie said driver errors forced him to accept a provisional spot.

"The car was better than I was all night," he said. "I kept over-driving it, hitting the corners too hard.

"It took Steve just 15 laps to get into the top five, it took me 45 laps. I can't be disappointed … I just hope I didn't run over anybody."

Seven cars ran over Lernerville's previous Late Model time trial record of 15.58 seconds, set by Chuck Harper in June of this year.

Bart Hartman of Zanesville owns the new standard at 15.543 seconds. Jackie Boggs broke Harper's record by driving a lap in 15.552, then Bloomquist broke that record in successive laps of 15.526 and 15.471 before Hartman broke his mark.

"The track was in tremendous shape," Eckert said. "I saw (co-promoter Albert "Ouch" Roenigk) getting ready to water down the track before we started racing and I couldn't believe it. None of the drivers could.

"But they know what they're doing here. Never let a race driver set up a track."

In the 20-lap Pure Stock feature, Mike Pegher of Wexford - who graduated from Seneca Valley High School this spring - won his first Lernerville feature by passing Joe Kelley on the 17th lap.

Kelley had led the race from the second lap until that point, but came too high off the cushion in Turn 2. Kelley wound up dropping to seventh.

"No way did I think I had a chance to win that one," Pegher said. "I've come so close here. Twice I had the lead on other nights and got taken out."

Pegher, 18, is in his second year of racing. His grandfather, Dave Pegher, was semi-lates points champion at Lernerville from 1974-76.

Pegher won his first career Pure Stock feature two weeks ago at Sportsman's Speedway.

Notes:

There were 68 cars in the pits, including 44 Late Models. … Chris Schneider of Tarentum, in his first year driving a Late Model, led a B-Main Friday night with two laps to go. He was caught on a re-start and finished fourth, ending his night. … Nick Jones of Pittsburgh was the highest finisher among Lernerville regulars in the WoO feature, finishing 16th. Alex Ferree of Saxonburg was 18th. Jones also had the 10th-quickest qualifying time at 15.656 seconds, fastest among local drivers.