BUFFALO TWP — The year 2007 may prove lucky for Alex Ferree at Lernerville Speedway.

The Saxonburg driver of the No. 4 Late Model would welcome the change — and he got a taste of it during the track's season opener Friday night.

Ferree started the feature up front and kept the lead throughout the race, surviving seven cautions, including one each on four successive laps, to hold off Josh Richards for the checkered flag.

"I'm usually not very good on restarts,"Ferree admitted. "But I was tonight. And I needed to be."

Richards, from Shinnston, W.Va., drives the World of Outlaws Late Model circuit and pushed Ferree for the lead through most of the race.

He appeared to catch Ferree on the back straightaway midway through the race, but was held back by a caution after Tony Burke spun out with a flat tire while Richards was making his move.

"I thought (Richards) was by me and gone,"Ferree said. "I saw Josh pull alongside me and he was moving past me when that caution flag came out.

"I saw the yellow waving and said, 'Thank you, Lord!"

Richards tried going low numerous times in an attempt to pass Ferree, but he couldn't quite gain an edge.

Ferree plans to run for points at Lernerville and hopes Friday night is a sign his luck is changing.

The feature win was only the third of his career at Lernerville and his first since 2004.

• Veteran Sprint car driver Bob Felmlee of Franklin grabbed the lead from pole-sitter Scott Bonnell on the third lap and cruised to victory in that feature.

The win was Felmlee's first at Lernerville since April 10, 1998. He was track champion here in 1995.

Felmlee did not race anywhere for six years after sustaining serious injuries in an racing accident in 1999. He won points championships at Tri-City and Mercer last season.

"The car felt good tonight," he said. "I wasn't really comfortable with the cushion, but the car was set up to drive off the bottom of the corners, and it worked."

Ed Lynch Jr., who said he couldn't get any traction Friday night, finished a distant second, snapping his streak of six successive opening night feature wins at Lernerville.

Felmlee said he is unsure of his racing plans for this season.

"I'd like to travel around a lot more, but I don't know if I can get away with my job and everything," he said.

• Chad Brachman of Sanborn, N.Y., won his first career Lernerville feature in the Modified division, taking the lead from Joe Crawford on the fourth lap and easily outdistancing runner-up Brian Swartzlander to the finish line.

Brachman drove 3Z\x hours to race here Friday and plans to return next week.

"I've run here before a couple of times and I love the track,"Brachman said. "This was a chance to get out and shake the car down. (The New York) season doesn't start for a couple of weeks."

• Mike Pegher Jr. of Wexford, a Seneca Valley graduate, took the lead from Paul Schreckengost on the fourth lap and won the Pure Stock Feature by a wide margin.

Notes: There were 98 cars in the pits. ... Defending Sprint points champion Kevin Schaefer saw his night end early when he broke a front axle on Turn 3 of the feature's first lap and had to be towed off the track. ... Defending Late Model points champion Lynn Geisler had to qualify for the feature through the B-Main and finished seventh. Defending Modified champion Kevin Bolland did not race Friday night. ... Points racing begins next Friday night.