BUFFALO TWP — A fast start proved to be useless at Lernerville Speedway Friday night.

The leader at the midway point in each of the four feature races failed to reach Victory Lane, which made for a flurry of frenetic finishes.

Butler's Terry Young was one driver to survive numerous cautions and capitalize on a late opportunity. He took his first lead of the Sportsman Feature with two laps to go and claimed the checkered flag.

“I was running fourth,” said Young. “Kind of figured that's where I was going to stay.”

He was wrong.

Ryan Moyer and Corey McPherson — who was looking for his third straight Sportsman Feature win — got tangled on Lap 17 and Young moved up to second after the caution.

He promptly zoomed past Greg Beach on the restart and cruised to victory.

“He must have bent something up on his car or something (in the prior wreck) because it wasn't handling as good,” said Young. “He was beating me off the bottom a couple of laps before that. After the wreck, he got a little slower.”

A stroke of good luck was a long time coming for Young, as it was his first feature win at Lernerville in three years.

“It's been a long three years, too,” Young said. “Any luck you get down here, you have to savor it because you won't get much at this place.”

Transmission problems derailed Young's showing at Lernerville's opener two weeks ago and he didn't compete last week.

The Butler driver finally got on the track Friday and enjoyed the conditions.

“It was a little bit bumpy, but it had all kinds of bite and that's what was helping me out,” Young explained. “I typically do good on a heavy track.”

Fellow Butler native Brian Ellenberger just missed on his bid for two straight Sprint Feature wins, settling for second behind Pete Miller III.

It was the first career feature victory at Lernerville for Miller, who was also celebrating his 21st birthday.

The triumph didn't come without a little bit of controversy, though.

Ed Lynch Jr. led 17 consecutive laps in the 25-lap feature, but he and Miller came together on Lap 21.

Lynch spun out, while Miller managed to maintain control and hold on for the win.

“We got together and unfortunately it took him out the of the race,” said Miller. “By no means was that intentional.

“It was an awesome experience, our first win here in Lernerville,” added Miller, who apologized to Lynch after the race. “I hate to do it in that dramatic fashion. ... I didn't mean it.”

Ellenberger — who won his heat race, but started in 12th due to his victory last week — was satisfied with the second-place finish, but hoped to snag another checkered flag.

“I worked hard to get it up to where we were and I just missed my chance on that last restart with three (laps) to go,” said Ellenberger. “I'm happy for Pete. Pete's a good kid. He ran a good race tonight and it's his first Lernerville win, so I'm excited for him as well.”

Miller said he hopes to be back to Lernerville soon, as he enjoyed the conditions.

“That's my type of track: Elbows up, drive it like a cowboy,” said Miller with a smile. “I like that.”

Ellenberger agreed.

“Tonight was just a real fun race track,” he said. “It was definitely fast and it made for some exciting racing.”

Jared Miley posted his second Late Model Feature victory in three tries and has a second-place showing sandwiched in between.

He wasn't as fond of the track conditions, though, and was just happy to get his car back to the pits relatively unharmed.

“I'll take the track the first two weeks over tonight,” said Miley. “It's just too hard on equipment when it's like that, but I'm glad we won. Everything worked out.”

The South Park driver is happy to claim an early Late Models points lead with a near-flawless start, especially after experimenting with a new car Friday.

“We worked hard over the offseason getting this stuff ready,” said Miley. “I'm real excited about it. We'll be running (the new car) a lot in the future.”

Jeremiah Shingledecker, the defending track champion of the Modifieds, picked up his first feature win on the year.

He took advantage when Brian Swartzlander had some car trouble. After leading the first 14 laps, Swartzlander's car began to turn right when he touched the brakes.

“I think I probably had a second-place car,” Shingledecker admitted. “Brian was really quick.”

All in all, Shingledecker was still pleased to end the race in Victory Lane.

“Can't complain about a win,” he said.