8/31/2021
Race of Champions
ANDY JANKOWIAK & JOE MANCUSO SHARE “BUD 100” LAURELS IN RACE OF CHAMPIONS COMPETITION AT HOLLAND INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
AndyJankowiak of Tonawanda, N.Y. and Joe Mancuso of Buffalo, N.Y. shared the spotlight in the Bud 100 on Saturday night at Holland Speedway as part of a prestigious doubleheader for the Race of Champions Sportsman and Super Stock Series.
Jankowiak scored the win in the George Decker Memorial 52 for the RoC Sportsman while
Mancuso captured the Rick Wylie Classic 48 for the Super Stocks. The two events made up the return of the Bud 100 to the highbanks of Holland, which holds the tradition of being the signature event at the venerable Western New York short track.
In the Decker Memorial, Jankowiak topped a stacked field of 37 Race of Champions Sportsman Modifieds that attempted to qualify for the 26-car starting grid. He outdueled Jake Vernon of Hamburg, N.Y. who challenged Jankowiak for the majority of the 52-lap race. Kevin Timmerman of Ontario, N.Y. finished third followed by Scott Wylie and Patrick Emerling. The victory gives Jankowiak three wins in the 20-race history of the George Decker Memorial.
“It is such an honor to win this race at Holland Speedway,” said Jankowiak. “Jake (Vernon) raced me hard, but clean, and we were able to come out on top.”
Mancuso bested a season-high field of 26 Race of Champions Super Stocks to win the Rick
Wylie Classic 48-lap feature. A restart at the halfway point of the event saw Mancuso take the lead from Jake Wylie of Derby, N.Y. to secure the win.
Wylie finished second followed by his brother, Scott Wylie from Blasdell, N.Y. Jake and Scott are the sons of Rick Wylie, who was a seven-time Holland Speedway track champion. The elder Wylie passed away in 2019, and the race was created the following year to honor his memory.
In supporting action, Bob Palmer of Buffalo, N.Y. dominated the Butch Palmer Classic 32 for the Race of Champions FOAR Score Dash Series. Eldon King III of Freedom, N.Y. won the first race of the season for the Race of Champions Late Model Series. Andy Nye of Lancaster, N.Y. took top honors in a non-points event for the NYPA TQ Midgets.
All of the feature winners on Saturday dedicated their victories to the memory of Jerry Ward. Ward, who passed away on August 26, was a part of the Race of Champions family as an official alongside his son, Travis. Before joining the RoC staff he served as an official at Holland Speedway for a number of seasons.
Detailed results for the Race of Champions Bud 100 can be found here; https://www.rocmodifiedseries.com/profile/schedule/results.aspx?r=357099&rt=sch
The Race of Champions returns to action on Friday, September 3 for the Maynard Troyer Classic II presented by F/A Products for the RoC Modifieds, Sportsman and Rocket Performance 602 Sportsman. The Wilbert’s Super Sixes will also be in action. Racing starts at 7:05 p.m.
The Race of Champions is a sanctioning body presenting Modified and Stock Car racing on asphalt and dirt surfaces throughout the Northeast, with events in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey with primary marketing partners Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Waddell Communications, Image X Graphic Designs, Sherwood Racing Wheels, DirtTrackDigest.com, FX Caprara and Billy Whittaker Ford. The 71st annual Race of Champions weekend will take place in 2021 at Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pennsylvania and is the second longest consecutive auto-racing event in North America, second only to the Indianapolis 500.
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Race of Champions Media at media@rocmodifiedseries.com
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