For Wednesday 9/25/02

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By John Bisci

LANCASTER, NY (Saturday, May 7, 1977) – Merv Treichler returned to Lancaster Speedway after a year off and won the opening night 40-lap Modified feature.  Treichler, off dirt Modified racing in 1976, secured sponsorship for his Jim Mangan-owned Gremlin from Buffalo radio station WYSL-AM 1400 and returned to the Exit 49 oval with a vengeance.

The radio station called itself "Whistle 14" and dubbed Merv's car the "Whistle Missile II" (the first WYSL Missile was a gold metalflake '66 Chevy, raced on Lancaster's 1/8-mile drag strip in '73).

Although Lancaster underwent a radical change since Treichler last raced there (the track was enlarged and reshaped in '76 from a ½-mile oval to a 5/8-mile D-shaped track by using the drag strip as the new front chute), it didn't seem to phase the flyin' potato farmer from Sanborn.  There were other changes as well since the man with the bushy sideburns and gold-rimmed glasses muscled his Gremlin around the property.  Jim Vollertsen had returned as promoter in 1976 and the track joined upstart NEARA (Northeast Auto Racing Association) after dropping its NASCAR sanction at the end of the '75 season.  Among those in the short-lived NEARA fold were Spencer Speedway near Rochester, Shangri-La Speedway near Binghamton, Fulton Raceway and Perry Raceway.  Perry – traditionally a sister track to Holland Speedway, which created a two-night circuit for Late Model Sportsman cars – switched to Modifieds under the NEARA banner and continued to operate on Sunday nights.  Chemung Speedrome, also a NEARA member when the '77 campaign opened, dropped out not long after the season got underway.

At Lancaster, many of the familiar faces were still around.  Only one major name was missing: Gary Iulg.  The Sanborn native had left for the DIRT circuit of Ransomville on Friday nights and Merrittville (near St. Catherines, Ontario) on Saturdays.  Iulg and his Chevette Modified pretty much ruled the roost at both Niagara region tracks.

After dropping the Mini-Stocks a few years earlier, Lancaster added a new third class to its program, in the form of Figure-8 cars.  An X was cut through the infield to create a figure eight track.  No one bothered to pave this X, however, and the dust created a hairy situation as drivers tried to negotiate the intersection while blinded by flying dirt.  Yours truly entered one of these Figure-8 races.  Started 12^th, finished sixth and was pretty damn happy just to survive.  The car (a '66 Impala with a broken engine mount) was sold right in the infield right after the races and I never bothered to pick up my $5 prize money.

An announced crowd of 3,000 was on hand for Lancaster's first race of the year.  Dave Cramer led the first four laps in his Vega before the race experienced its first caution period.  Maynard Troyer, charging up through the pack from the rear of the field, was pinched into the wall and sustained damage to his Pinto.  Sege Fidanza took command on the restart and led until lap 24.  Ronnie Martin, dicing with Fidanza for the lead, apparently ran over debris on the track which punctured his oil pan and a rear tire.  Fidanza was caught up in the ensuing wreck and the red flag halted the action as the track crew cleaned up the accident scene.  Merv Treichler took the lead, immune to the mayhem taking place behind him.  On lap 38, Roger Treichler made a move on second-place runner Don Pratt.  The pass was successful, and Treichler took second place.  Pratt, hung out to dry on the outside, was now suddenly fifth after Tim Mislin and Dale Merz also blew past.  On the final lap, Mislin charged around Roger Treichler to take second place as Merv headed for the checkered flag and $750.  Mislin scored the highest finish of his career. followed by Roger Treichler, Merz and Pratt.

Modified heats were won by Merv Treichler, Bill Bitterman and Maynard Troyer.  Don Whalen won the consolation race.

Defending Street Stock champion John Julicher won the 25-lap Street Stock feature.

Don Newton, brother of Lancaster Modified driver Mark Newton, won Lancaster's inaugural Figure-8 feature.

The final race of the 1977 season was to be the Genesee National 200, on Sept. 18.  Time trials were held on Saturday night, Sept. 17, and Merv won the pole with a lap of 18.9 sec.  Cousin Roger Treichler landed the second starting spot.  A total of 36 cars took time and perhaps the most interesting entry was Canada's Terry Kitchen who earlier had won Cayuga Speedway's '77 Late Model Sportsman championship.  Kitchen bolted on a set of 15-inch Modified tires and was fourth-quickest out of 36 cars.  Holland Speedway champion Ronnie Williams claimed 13^th in his Camaro Late Model Sportsman, and Canadian Late Model stars Jr. Hanley, Howie Scannell and Bill Watson were waiting to take time when the rains came.  (Remember – this was supposed to be a 200-lap Modified race.)  The Genesee National 200 was rained out and rescheduled for Sept. 25.  On Sept. 25 (the autumnal equinox – historically a horrible weekend for weather), it rained again, and the season-ending Genesee National 200 was now the season-opening race of the '78 season.  Merv Treichler would sit on the pole for 218 days until Apr. 23, 1978 to see if he could win the soggy event.  This questionable practice of beginning each new season with a 200-lap feature continued into the '80s.

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