BUFFALO TWP — The Firecracker 100 was a month ago.

It's still paying off for Wexford resident and Seneca Valley graduate Mike Pegher Jr.

Pegher started in the front row of Friday night's Late Model feature at Lernerville Speedway and led the race from wire to wire. The win was his second Late Model triumph at the Sarver oval this season and third of his career.

“It's tough getting into a groove when you're only racing a car once a week,” Pegher said. “All of a sudden, the Firecracker 100 weekend arrives and we're here three straight nights.

“The second night, we improved the car a little bit. The third night, we improved a lot. We've had the basic set-up down ever since.”

Pegher has been driving Cranberry Township resident Lynn Geisler's No. 1C for the past couple of seasons at Lernerville. He owns 11 career feature wins here in the Sportsman Stocks.

Pegher was never threatened for the lead Friday. He easily outdistanced the field in his heat race as well.

“We only made a couple of minor changes (after the heat race),” Pegher said. “The car was dialed in.”

John Garvin Jr. of Sarver started from the 10th spot and finished second. Russell King was running second before getting a flat tire from contact with Sam Eichelberger's car on Lap 18. King, running second in points, was able to return to the track on the lead lap and finished seventh.

Points leader Alex Ferree of Saxonburg finished third, but started alongside Pegher on a 19th-lap restart.

“I thought my car, Pegher's and Alex were the three fastest out there,” Garvin said. “If I could have gotten a late caution and had the chance to start alongside (Pegher), I had an idea what I was gonna try.

“But the car with the lead ... nobody was going to pass him.”

Pegher said he waited until the last second to fire off on the 19th-lap restart.

“I didn't want to give Alex a chance to get any momentum there,” he said.

In other features:

Points leader Rex King Jr. drew the pole for the Modified race and never surrendered the lead. Brian Swartzlander started 10th and finished second.

“Rex and I were running the same line and he did a good job with it,” Swartzlander said. “I was there, ready if he made a mistake, but it didn't happen.”

King's feature win was his third of the season and fourth career Lernerville win. He ducked to the bottom groove late in the race to grab the checkered flag.

“Brian Swartzlander has won a ton of races up top here for years,” King said. “I took a chance going to the bottom, but the top was getting slick.

“I got a good start (on 17th lap restart) and stayed in front of him.”

Swartzlander said King likely left the top groove to avoid lapped cars.

“I wish he had moved down there earlier,” Swartzlander said. “He ran a good race.”

Lee Jacobs grabbed the lead from pole-sitter and Sprint points leader Carl Bowser on the 22nd lap to claim his second win in three appearances at the Sarver oval this season.

Jacobs, of Dalton, Ohio, won an All-Star race here in May. He started Friday's feature from the eighth spot.

Bowser had a sizable lead most of the race before Jacobs surprised him with a slide move between turns 1 and 2.

“I was definitely surprised,” Bowser admitted. “I had no idea he was there. I thought I had a big lead.

“Lapped cars kept trying to race me and I had to put my attention in that direction. But that's no excuse. I should have gotten this one.”

Jacobs said he saw Bowser “go a little high between turns 3 and 4, so I hit the gas and gave it a chance. We had a good race car.”

Rob Shook of Creighton started on the pole in the Sportsman Stock feature and was seemingly headed for his first win of the season.

But Corey McPherson, who started 10th, quietly made his way through the field and passed Butler's Aaron Easler for second with two laps to go. He caught Shook on the final lap.

“I had to go hard into turns 3 and 4 to get him and I grazed the wall a little bit at the end, but it all worked,” McPherson said.

Sparks flew from the side of McPherson's No. C33 car as it caught the wall right at the checkered flag. The win was McPherson's fourth of the campaign.

Notes: There were 75 cars in the pits. ... Ellwood City's Rodney Beltz won his first Modified heat race of the season. ... The only red light of the night occurred at the start of the first Modified heat race, as Ralph McBride, 59, of Valencia, sailed his No. 13 car over Turn 1. ... Ed Lynch Jr., Lernerville's all-time Sprint victory leader, made a rare 2014 appearance Friday. He finished fifth in the feature, second to Bowser in his heat race.