Skora Holds Off Jankowiak for George Decker Memorial Victory

George Skora, III held off Andy Jankowiak to win the George Decker Memorial at Holland Speedway on Saturday night for his third career Race of Champions Sportsman Modified victory.

Skora and Jankowiak battled fiercely in the closing laps, with Skora jumping out front on a restart with eight laps to go. Jankowiak applied pressure to Skora all the way to the finish, but Skora successfully fended off Jankowiak's charges on a green-white-checkered restart to end the race.

For Skora, the 2020 RoC Sportsman champion, the season has not gone as he had hoped. He tested ahead of Saturday's race looking for answers.

"We came up here Thursday night," said Skora in victory lane. "We've been struggling with this car since opening day. We found something that turned us around for this weekend. Just be patient. I knew we had a good car. We could run the bottom, a lot of guys couldn't run the bottom."

Holding the bottom line proved valuable, as he was able to force Jankowiak to attempt to pass him on the outside.

"What a dogfight with Andy, man," Skora said. "We've had a lot of battles. We've gotten along pretty good lately, but man, neither one of us wanted to give an inch. I know he loves this place just as much as I do. He owned it the last few years. Hopefully, times are changing.

"I just hooked the bottom good. We raised the Panhard bar up from Lancaster to bring it here. The car was just pretty good, I can't complain. New shocks on it, just happy to update the car from last year's car."

Saturday's George Decker Memorial was an event Skora circled on his calendar. Now, he has won the event after coming close several times in the past.

"I think I've finished second in this race four or five times. This feels really good to get back in victory lane and finally win the Decker. I've been haunted by this race a few times, so this feels good."

Jankowiak won in RoC Sportsman Modified competition at Holland earlier this season. While Jankowiak settled for second, he enjoyed his battle with Skora for the victory. He agreed that Skora's ability to hold the inside line was the difference maker in the race.

"It was fun. We were just too tight," said Jankowiak. "I was good over here on the bottom, but I wasn't real good over there on the bottom. It was just a good hard race.

"Fun racing with Shawn [Nye], too. A lot of side-by-side racing. Hopefully, it was a good show for the fans."

Shawn Nye finished third, after thrashing during the week to even have his car ready for competition following an engine failure one week ago at Spencer Speedway.

"I pulled the motor, it broke last Friday up at Spencer. Tuesday, I was up to like 3 o'clock in the morning on Wednesday putting in another one. It was fun today. Finishing third to them two, it's fun, but it sucks at the same time."

The RoC Sportsman Modifieds will join the Race of Champions Modifieds at their next stop, the Maynard Troyer Classic VI at Spencer Speedway on Friday, August 29. Fans can watch that event live on RacingAmerica.TV.

-Photo credit: MoJo Photos/Racing America

George Decker Memorial Unofficial Results