BUFFALO TWP — Number 2 tries harder

Former Butler resident Jack Sodeman Jr., now living in North Jackson, Ohio, knows that quite well.

"I spent 17 years trying to get my first win here," the driver of the No. 23 Sprint car said of capturing a feature victory at Lernerville Speedway. "I know what it feels like. I've led races here only to have something break, get a flat tire."

Sodeman found victory lane at Lernerville for the first time last August. He posted his second career win there Friday night and denied Danny Holtgraver his first victory in the process.

Holtgraver posted his fifth consecutive top-five finish at the Sarver oval, including two seconds.

"Another lap and I had him,"said the Pittsburgh driver of the No. D4. "If we hit lapped traffic a couple of laps earlier, maybe."

Sodeman started alongside pole- sitter Ed Lynch Jr. The two traded the lead twice in the first seven laps before Lynch seemingly took over for good on the eighth lap.

"Once Lynch got into clean air, he took off," Holtgraver said. "I don't know if anybody would have had anything for him."

But a lapped car slid in front of Lynch on the 17th lap, forcing him to hit the brakes to avoid contact. The No. 2L spun out, had to tag the field and wound up seventh.

Lynch was fuming after the race and vented frustration toward track officials.

"Catching up to Eddie on this track and passing him on this track are two different things," Sodeman said. "He had power off the restarts. I don't know if I could have gotten him."

Lynch, Lernerville's career Sprint feature victory leader with 101, has yet to win here this season.

In other features Friday:

n Dave Murdick of Slippery Rock won his second Modified feature in four weeks at Lernerville. He started up front with Kevin Bolland, passed Bolland on the back straightaway of the first lap and never trailed from there.

The there were no cautions in the 25-lap feature.

"I got around Kevin on the outside and kept riding that cushion the whole way," Murdick said.

Murdick's win was his 17th Modified triumph at Lernerville, tying him with Bob Wearing Sr. for 10th on the track's all-time list for that division.

The win also eased Murdick's frustration of not being able to run his Late Model Friday night.

"There was an oil pressure problem in the engine. We had to shut it down," he said.

n Mike Johnson of Imperial, a wrestling coach at West Allegheny High School, drew the pole for the Late Model feature and led from wire to wire.

Johnson had not won at the Sarver track in years. He held off the steady-running Dave Hess Jr. to snare the checkered flag.

Hess has eight top-five finishes and leads the Late Model points race.

"There were good cars up front and I couldn't afford a bobble," Johnson said. "I would have been knocked back a bit, for sure."

n Joe Kelley of Mount Pleasant continues to dominate the Sportsman Stock division, winning for the sixth time in eight features this season.

Pole-sitter Terry Young of Butler led the first 10 laps before being forced to the pits with a flat tire. Kelley was running second at the time after starting the race 12th.

Kelley has 38 career wins at Lernerville, tops all-time in the Stock division.

Notes: There were 85 cars in the pits. ... In a taped interview from Thursday night with track announcer Dow Carnahan, Charlie Holben of Cabot said he suffered mostly second-degree burns over 40 percent of his body in last week's fiery Sprint car crash. He expects to leave Mercy Hospital in three weeks, does not plan to race again, but may work on another driver's team. ... Midseason championship races take place next Friday.