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Hahn said he briefly saw Jenkins at the start, but soon lost sight
of him and didn't look again because he figured he had the lead. "When
I got down there I found out it was a lot closer than I thought," Hahn
admitted. "But as long as you get the win light it doesn't matter how
fast or how slow you're going."
MANCUSO SCORES SHOOTOUT WIN
 Houston-based
Harley-Davidson dealer Johnny Mancuso went into the inaugural Screamin'
Eagle Nitro H-D Shootout sixth in points, so he faced off against number-three
man Jay Turner in round one. Mancuso overcame a slight holeshot by Turner,
who's also the defending class champion, to post the win and advance
to face Mike Romine in the semis. Again, Mancuso was beat on the start,
but again he rode around his opponent for the win and a ticket to the
final round.
On the other side of the ladder, Mark Conner, who made it in as a alternate
for Bill Furr (who was racing elsewhere that weekend), made it all the
way to the final on the strength of a pair of holeshots against 2001
Nitro Harley champion Doug Vancil and number-one qualifier Ray Price.
Making his accomplishment even more remarkable, Conner, from Canyon
Lake, TX, competes sporadically on the IHRA tour and the Shootout marked
only the second time he'd ridden Mike Romine's spare bike.
That unfamiliarity apparently bit him in the final, as Conner had a
.372 redlight after deep-staging, while Mancuso ran his slowest pass
of the day at 6.651 secs and 202.36 mph to take the win.
"I didn't have any intention of deep-staging; I think the rollout is
a little different on this bike, compared to what I'm used to riding,"
Conner said later. Still, he was pleased with the opportunity to be
in the Shootout, especially since he and Romine would share the $4,000
runner-up check.
Mancuso also was happy with his $8,000 payday, but the win meant even
more to the 1998 Nitro Harley champion.
"Winning the Shootout is probably the biggest single thing that I've
ever done," he said. "When I won the championship, it was kind of anticlimactic
because we came into the last race at Epping (NH) with the points lead,
but I blew a motor big time in the first round, leaving it up to Bill
Furr to see if he could catch me. So, I had to just stand on the sidelines
and wait for Bill to make his pass and sure enough, he lost in the first
round, too. So, it was kind of a win by attrition. I didn't get to go
out and win it on the track."
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