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FAMILIAR STRANGER RETURNS TO VICTORY LANE

By John Bisci

LANCASTER, NY (Saturday, May 22, 1976) –  From 1969 to 1972, Richie Evans raced almost every week at Lancaster Speedway.  Thanks to a feud with NASCAR, Lancaster fans were treated to Richie's weekly battles with the Treichlers, Maynard Troyer, Chuck Boos and Jim Rudolph.  Come 1973, Richie was gone, having patched his differences with the sanctioning body.  His visits to Lancaster were now few and far between.  Fans of the Rapid Roman would have to either visit other tracks or read of his exploits in Gater Racing News.

Lancaster had a new look for '76 – a D-shaped oval that incorporated the 1/8 mile dragstrip as the front straightaway.  This new configuration offered many challenges.  The reverse-camber dip off Turn 4 was at its worst right at the point where drivers got back on the throttle, and the new infield concrete "stage" created a tunnel effect which hampered visibility.  To help combat that problem, a flagman was stationed in Turn 1 to warn the drivers of accidents in Turns 1 and 2.  NEARA, a new sanctioning body to which Lancaster belonged, instituted a rear-end gear rule at each member track, which was not popular with the drivers.

Although Evans was a NEARA member, he raced at Lancaster only twice in 1976.  The first time, on May 22, won the 40-lap feature a half-lap ahead of Roger Treichler.  The track would not see him again until the season-ending 200-lap Modified race (which he also won).

Bill Cane of Rochester started the 40-lap NEARA Modified feature from the pole and led the first four laps.  The caution flag flew for the first time when Dale Merz spun his 4D Gremlin and Evans was forced to pit to change a tire.  On the restart, the starter determined Sege Fidanza was too far ahead and allegedly did not throw the green flag.  According to reports, drivers saw the first-turn flagman throw the caution flag for the aborted restart and cars stacked up on the front chute.  Involved in the wreck were Dean Hoag, Johnny MacDonald and Dan Swain.  MacDonald's Corvair took the worst of it and drivers voiced their opinion to track owner Jim Vollertsen during the clean-up period.

When the race restarted, Fidanza was out front until he was passed on lap 8 by Jim Rudolph.  Evans grabbed the lead on lap 17 and went on to win, pocketing the $700 first-place money plus an additional $230 in lap money (at $10 per lap).  Following Evans at the checkered flag were Roger Treichler and Jim Rudolph.

Frank Battista led the first three laps of the 25-lap Street Stock feature, the Pete Trautman brought out the first caution flag for a spin in Turn 1.  Trautman, who now is a NASCAR Winston Cup Series official, was driving the former Johnny Hoffman Olds which had visited Lancaster's victory lane a number of times in '73.  Mike Ticco took the lead on the fifth lap and valiantly resisted the challenges of Tom Druar and Tom Forgione.  Druar, who later earned Lancaster Modified championships in the 1980s, wrestled the lead from Ticco on lap 14 and went on to win.