BUFFALO TWP — Rod George was running out of time and running out of racetrack.

So he extended the latter — and ran past Carl Bowser to the checkered flag in the Sprint feature Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.

Bowser, of Sarver, started on the pole and led the race for 22 laps. George, of Kittanning, started sixth and pulled into second midway through the race.

But everywhere George's No. 4 car tried to go, Bowser's No. 10 cut him off.

"I knew he was coming and I know Rod likes to run the low groove,"Bowser said. "Every time I heard a car getting close, I ducked down there to block him.

"At least, that's what I was trying to do."

George foiled that strategy when he aggressively dove low coming around Turn 3 on the 23rd lap. He sailed in front of Bowser — and clipped the wall along the front straightaway as well.

"I knew that was gonna happen,"George said, smiling, about coming into contact with the wall. "It was the only way I was going to get around him.

"Carl did everything right out there. He forced me to take a chance. I had to hope I could bounce off that wall and I did. Carl takes the middle of the track on Turn 3. It was my only shot."

George made it stand up for his fifth win of the season at Lernerville and his 21st Sprint feature win overall this season.

Now in his 25th season, George has never won this many features in a single campaign. His previous high was 18 victories in one year.

"I've had a lot of help this year," he said. "We've basically taken three race teams and merged them into one this season."

George also pulled within eight of points leader Kevin Schaeffer with one night of points racing left. George last won the Sprint points title here in 2002. He has already clinched the points championship at Tri-City Speedway.

He considered retiring from racing two years ago.

"It's hard to quit when you're going good,"George admitted.

George and Bowser pit their cars alongside each other and have become good friends over the past couple of years. They've developed mutual respect for each other.

"Rod George has won 21 races this year, so he knows how to get around the track,"Bowser said. "You can't make mistakes against competition like that.

"I love when the track's slick like it was tonight. That's when the drivers come out, not the big motors. It was a driver's track tonight and it was a fun show."

George described Bowser as "the up and coming driver of the next generation here. He's a consistent top-five car and he's only been doing this for three years."

• Dave Murdick of Slippery Rock started on the pole for the Modified feature, lost the lead to Tom Winkle of Mars on a seventh-lap restart, got it back from Del Rougeux Jr. on Turn 3 of the 13th lap, traded the lead with the No. 20Dcar for a while, then put the win away over the final six laps.

"This was a crazy race,"Murdick said. "I had my doubts for a while."

The win was the second of the season here for Murdick, who stands a distant third in points.

Points leader Brian Swartzlander began the night 16 points in front of Rougeux, and passed him for second place on the final turn of the final lap.

"I wanted to stay close to (Rougeux) because I knew I could get a good run off Turn 4,"Swartzlander said. "I just hit it right and we got it."

• Robbie Blair of Titusville took the lead from Cranberry Township's Lynn Geisler on the 13th lap and held it from there to post his first career Lernerville Late Model feature win.

The current leader in the Mid-Atlantic Championship Series (MACS)points race, Blair lost the lead to Chub Frank in the final five laps of Thursday's NASCARNight 35-lap feature here.

"This makes up for that a little,"Blair said. "We were pretty decent last night."

Dave Hess Jr. finished second. Geisler faded to seventh down the stretch.

• Pure Stock points leader Mike Pegher Jr. of Wexford had the pole Friday night and led from wire to wire for his third feature win of the year at the Sarver track.

Pegher extended his points lead to 39 over Bob Egley and Butch Lambert and needs to accumulate just one point next week to clinch the championship.

Notes:There were 90 cars in the pits. ... One week after winning his first Lernerville Pure Stock feature, Jake Ayers of Elkton, Md., won his first-ever heat race here. ... Ed Lynch Jr. won his ninth heat race in the Sprint division, tying him with Pegher for the most heat wins in any division at Lernerville this year.