NORTH EAST, Pa. — George Skora lll drove from the ninth starting position to the lead in an incredibly competitive Race of Champions Sportsman Modified Series race at Lake Erie Speedway Saturday to claim victory in the Erie Sports Commission “74”.
It was Skora’s first victory in the Sportsman event.
“We had a great car and it was a competitive event,” stated Skora in victory lane. “But it’s been a tough year losing people. I couldn’t help but think of Norm Frazier (a Skora crew member) and people like Evan Canfield. It’s been a tough year and winning like this takes away some of the sting, but not all of it. It’s a great win for us and I can’t thank my sponsors and family enough for getting us here.”
Skora outran ARCA Menards Series regular Andy Jankowiak. Eddie Hawkins finished third. Jake Chiristman and Mike Leaty rounded out the top five.
Skora posted the fastest time in the final practice/qualifying session as well as the first qualifying race. Leaty, Jankowiak, Andrew Lewis Jr. and Kevin Timmerman won the other qualifying races. Doug Gavette won the B-Main.
Jeremy Haudricourt won a wild Race of Champions Late Model Series race to close out their season. Jacob Gustafson ended up second with James Barclay finishing third. The Late Model championship battle came down to a tie-breaker between Scott Wylie and Eldon King III. Based on Wylie’s victory earlier in the season, he was crowned the champion in the tiebreaker.
Haudricourt posted the fastest time in the final practice/qualifying session. Wylie, King and defending Series champion Dave Heitzhaus won the qualifying races.
Jake Christman captured the Race of Champions Super Stock Series “National Parts Peddler 40”. Early race leader Joe Mancuso finished second, while Eric Brown finished third.
Mancuso and Brown won the qualifying races.
Christopher Deyoe Jr., won the Race of Champions FOAR SCORE Four Cylinder Dash Series race on the track but was disqualified in post-race inspection for the use of a non-approved tire and compound. Trisha Connolly was declared the race winner. Third-place finisher, Tommy Hughes, was disqualified for a non-stock throttle body. Nick Robinson finished second after the disqualification and Gene Purvis finished third.
Joey VanLane topped the Race of Champions Rocket Performance 602 Sportsman Modified Series event. VanLane held off Jenna Dietz. John Sippel finished third and Madison Knapp scored a fourth-place finish.
Sunday’s VP Racing Fuels Race of Champions 250 is set to roll off just after 4:00 p.m. giving attendees plenty of time to return home following the race. On average the race takes just less than two hours to complete.