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LANCASTER, N.Y. (June 4, 2026) – With sponsorship from Lotus of WNY, the ISMA Supermodifieds return to Lancaster Motorplex on Saturday, June 13 for the second running of the Eddie & Matt Serwacki Sr Memorial. The ISMA-MSS Supermodified event will also include a 50-lap event for the Street Stocks, and the first appearance of the season for the Rusty Diamond Cores Pro 4s.
The Serwacki name is vital to the history of racing at Lancaster, and in Western New York. John Bisci recalls in his Lancaster Memoriesbook about Eddie and Matt Sr;
ED SERWACKI
John Bisci
If you met up with Edward Serwacki in some noisy bowling alley on Buffalo’s East Side in 1958 and told him someday, he’d be a big-time auto racing promoter, he’d probably flash that million-dollar smile and simply shrug it off. The avid bowler, hunter, and amateur athlete was the owner of a thriving collision business and already had much on his plate.
Meanwhile, in the suburbs, a highway construction foreman had purchased two parcels of land adjacent to the brand-new New York State Thruway near Exit 49 (Depew) and proceeded to build a speedway. The location was a winner, close to Exit 49, right off the Thruway and all eastbound and westbound traffic could see the track from the highway. Sadly, the builder ran out of money and was forced to sell the project.
A group of East Side Polish American businessmen – proprietors of taverns, bowling alleys and plumbing shops – pooled their money and bought the track.
“I was at a bowling tournament in Albany,” Serwacki recalled. “Bowling alley operator Steve Bartell told me he was a partner. Lancaster Speedway? I had never heard of it. Two weeks later, we were bowling again and Bartell says, ‘How’d you like to be a partner in Lancaster Speedway?’ My visions were Daytona and the Indianapolis 500, you know. A speedway is a speedway. He said it wouldn’t cost a lot of money. Famous last words, right?”
The track was up and running for its grand opening in 1959. The grandstands were far from finished so the partners rented 1,000 folding chairs. The parched dirt track choked the fans and drivers with thick clouds of dust. Still, it was a popular attraction, but not without its challenges and tragedies. There were two driver fatalities in the speedway’s first two years of operation.
Partners did not always see eye to eye, and a few sold their shares. The long hours, and financial burdens were taking a toll. “We were making payments on the land and on the track,” said Serwacki. “I had mortgaged my house and business. It cost us about $22,000 each to be partners back then, but it didn’t start out that way. It was supposed to be $200 a month. In the beginning, my wife would count the people coming in to make sure we had enough money to cover the purse, while I had to count the race cars coming in to make sure we had enough cars to put on a race for the people. “Somewhere I got into a pretty decent argument with the other partners, and I walked out in 1963.”
The oval track’s season was abbreviated in 1964, while the drag strip held its own.
“I came back in 1965, and I leased it with my brother, Matt. We went to the bank and borrowed $5,000 against my collision business and that was my bankroll to get it going. We broke even that year and in 1966 it got good. Car counts and attendance were up.” Ed and Matt were both owners of Clinton Collision. Matt would stay at the collision shop to run that to support his brother Ed preparing the track for the next event. they worked well together but had their differences.
In 1967, Ed started the tradition of hosting lucrative season-ending events, launching what he refers to as “the big race,” twin 50-lap Modified features. The annual finale grew with each passing year and culminated with the spectacular Amalie Pro 350 in 1971.
The brothers did not merely own the business, they promoted it. Every race date offered a different promotion, including free flags and helmets for kids, 1,000 lbs. of beef, and a Mother’s Day bash that featured a French Poodle and a mink stole as door prizes. They hired a local TV news crew to film the big events of the season and turned it into a 45-minute highlights film, used to promote the track at functions. They booked motorcycle stuntman Evel Knievel at the height of his popularity, then had him visit the Mayor of Buffalo on the steps of City Hall to make sure the local media covered it.
“I always treated each driver – from the big winners to the guy who finished last every week – as participants. We needed all of them to put on the show. On good nights, we’d send extra prize money over to the pits.”
They decided to sell the track at the end of the 1971 season, at the height of its popularity. Women wept when the end of the Serwacki era was announced at the banquet.
Ed kept his hand in racing for a time, working with Holland Speedway and Perry Raceway, co-promoting the first Modified race at Watkins Glen in 1975, and the Race of Champions.
Lancaster Motorplex remembers and honors Eddie and Matt Serwacki Sr with this event which features the ISMA Supermodifieds. Mike Ordway is the defending race winner. The Lancaster Street Stocks will run their 50-lap special plus the Rusty Diamond Cores Pro 4’s will make their first appearance of the season.
Pit gates will swing open at 2pm, with grandstands opening at 4pm, and racing begins at 6pm.
For more information, follow Lancaster Motorplex on social media and visit the website at www.lancastermotorplexny.com
