Ed Lynch Jr. is such a dominating sprint car driver in Western Pennsylvania that even when Chad Hill had the lead Friday night at Lernerville Speedway, he had resigned himself mentally to a second-place finish.

Hill wasn't going to concede the lead, but he knew Lynch had won more sprint car races than anybody in the track's 35-year history and was looking to add his fourth victory this season. But Friday night belonged to Hill of Cowansville. He started on the pole and, with a little help from the wet weather and some timely cautions, he was able to keep Lynch in second down the stretch.

"I really didn't beat Ed," said Hill, who is Lynch's brother-in-law. "I started on the pole, Ed started 12th. On lap four, he was in third place. He never passed me so I never got to pass him back. I'm a pretty big stickler on that. If you start on the front row, you should win. In three previous weeks, someone else started up front and Ed beat them. It was good to know that he couldn't beat me, but I didn't beat Ed. There's two ways of looking at it."

No matter how you look at it, the victory was the third in Hill's career and it couldn't have come at a better time. The local drivers have only tomorrow night's race as a tuneup before the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series rolls into Sarver Tuesday for the Commonwealth Clash. Earlier this month, the Outlaws' new ownership group signed deals with 15 drivers to compete at each event, including 18-time champion Steve Kinser.

As far as Hill is concerned, he races against a Kinser every week.

"Ed Lynch Jr. in Western Pennsylvania is Steve Kinser," Hill said. "You can beat him, but he has to have an off day. If he is on top of his game, you will not beat him no matter where he goes. He's just that good."

Lynch, of Apollo, gave hope to all the weekly racers at Lernerville when he beat the Outlaws for the first time in July 2002 after nearly 20 years of racing against them. That victory was not only the greatest of Lynch's career, but also it boosted the hopes of every local racer.

"I don't get intimidated by the Outlaws because I know Ed Lynch Jr. has beat them," Hill said. "I used to get intimidated by [them], now I don't. I think every one of the sprint car drivers in Western Pennsylvania that competes against Ed on a weekly basis got a slap across the face two years when he beat them. He proved to the world that they're no better than us. They can be beaten. The high-dollar team can get you qualified, but when it comes down to racing and you're in traffic, sometimes the hardest hitting motor doesn't win. Then it comes down to driving, and there's a lot of luck involved."

Lynch has helped shape Hill's racing career by serving as somewhat of a racing instructor.

"He should be everybody's mentor," said Hill, 32. "If everybody chases Ed we're all going to be better and we're all going to be faster. If we all pay attention to what Ed is doing, we will better and all of us will win more races. Then it's going to get to the point where it's not just Chad chasing Ed, it's going to be 10 other cars chasing Ed. Then what you're going to have is a showdown like Williams Grove Speedway, where there's 10 Ed Lynch Jrs. out there. Everybody needs to wake up and realize that Ed is the best we have to offer around here. Everybody needs to pay more attention to him and what he's doing. Don't worry about beating Ed right now -- worry about learning from Ed. Learn Ed, watch Ed, copy Ed and you'll be faster. I'm proof of it."

Lugnuts
Even though racing was canceled because of rain Saturday at Pittbsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, officials there were able to finalize a deal with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to sanction the Pittsburgher weekend in September. The Outlaws will sanction the features Sept. 24 and Sept. 25. ... There will be two 50-lap features for NASCAR Weekly Series late models tomorrow night at Motordrome Speedway. ... Jennerstown Speedway will try again Saturday to open its season with six divisions of racing before the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Lucas Oil 250 event May 29.