By NICK SCHWIEN

nschwien@dailynews.net

One driver was waiting patiently.

Another was wishing he would have been a bit more aggressive earlier in the race.

In the end, it was patience that paid off for Jerry Phillips once again for the season opening night Friday at RPM Speedway in Hays.

Phillips, who graced victory lane numerous times in 2008 at RPM, watched as Salina's Corey Lagroon bolted out to the early lead in Friday's modified feature. But the Galva driver knew his car was going to settle in and be able to challenge Lagroon later.

That's exactly what happened.

"His car went away from him a little bit, and mine started to come on some," Phillips said.

It came on near the halfway point as Phillips started to reel in Lagroon. Then, just past the halfway point, Phillips made his move and never relinquished the lead in the feature race that didn't feature a single caution flag.

"It was about staying patient and trying to get a rhythm down," Phillips said. "If you can get going ... "

When in rhythm, Phillips was strong once again, just as he was in the final race of the 2008 season at RPM -- where he pocketed $5,000 for winning the Fall Nationals.

Meanwhile, Lagroon -- who eventually slipped to finish fourth -- was passed by Jeremy Frenier and four-time IMCA modified national champion David Murray Jr.

"I was pretty happy to see (Lagroon) jump out," said Frenier, who is from Fort Morgan, Colo. "I knew his tires were going to go away at the end. But maybe I should have used a little more of mine earlier than I did."

Frenier, who finished second, did see a glimmer of hope when the top cars started to come up on lap traffic. But Phillips weaved his way through with no problems to take the checkered flag.

"I saw the lap cars and started to get excited," Frenier said. "It sure would have been nice to see a caution, though."

The win for Phillips came after a long week of work on his car. A week earlier, the driver had his car "basically totaled" after another modified landed on the rear of his car at Minneapolis.

Many extra hours of work and welding ensued, allowing Phillips to pass through the gate in Hays on Friday night for RPM's opener.

"I didn't know how it was going to run," Phillips said. "The heat race, it was pretty good. But in hot laps, it sucked."

Phillips, Lagroon, Murray, Randy Wilson and Dylan Sherfick each won heat races earlier in the night.

Sherfick, a junior at Trego Community High School in WaKeeney, went on to finish fifth in the feature -- one of his best finishes in only his second year of racing a modified.

The next action at RPM will be Friday when the United Rebel Sprint Series 305 sprint cars join the hobby stocks, stocks and modifieds for the 7:30 p.m. show.