Tue, 2 Nov 2004, 01:29 PM Jenkins Beats the Kid in the Final

By Bobby Bennett, Jr. Photo copyright 2004 Auto Imagery, Inc. Final Round Renews old Jenkins and Cannon Rivalry

LAS VEGAS --

Shannon Jenkins

Shannon Jenkins pulled within one win of tying the mark for most wins in Pro Modified as he defeated Scott Cannon, Jr., in the finals of the ACDelco NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. For the veteran driver from Tuscaloosa, Ala., it was the renewal of a longstanding rivalry with Scott’s dad Scotty which dates back to the latter part of the 1990s. This time, however, Scotty was outside the car handling the tuning, and his more than capable son was handling the driving chores.

The battle was two-fold. Jenkins was looking to capture his first victory of the season, while the second-generation driver was looking for his first career victory. Jenkins stands on the verge of tying the Pro Modified record by scoring his 27th career victory, leaving him one away from a tie with Scotty. As for Junior, he was just trying to defending his dad’s honor.

In the end, it was a staging snafu and a wounded cylinder that handed Jenkins the victory, wrapping up a race weekend that started earlier than normal.

With the first round complete on Saturday afternoon, the remaining eight entries battled it out on Sunday. The first pair featured a pair of young lions contending for a place in the highly volatile doorslammer division.

Zach Barklage, who had stopped Troy Critchley in the first round, snagged a huge victory over Richie “The Kid” Stevens on a holeshot. Stevens was extremely tardy on the starting line, and Barklage, who was erratic in his quest to get to the finish line, managed to fend off a late charge by Stevens, taking the win with a mark of 6.303, 227.23 to the quicker but losing 6.299, 219.54 effort of his opponent.

One round earlier, Shannon Jenkins took advantage of Chip King’s staging problems for a solo victory. King, who drives the Patriot-themed Dodge Avenger, double-clutched on the starting line and drew a foul start. Jenkins advanced to the second round with a 6.283, 222.14.

The low elapsed time of the round came from Scotty Cannon, Jr., who eliminated defending event champion Von Smith in the first round. The second-generation driver blasted out a 6.229, 226.70 to easily eliminate a tire-shaking Jay Payne.

In a battle of teammates, newly-christened World Champion Mike Ashley lifted early as his car fishtailed erratically and slowed to an 8.003, 113.11. Lucky for him, Danny Rowe shook the tires early and forfeited the run.

The semi-finals opened with Jenkins stopping Ashley for the second time in the same weekend. Ashley was the quicker of the two off of the line, but tire shake immediately squelched his efforts. Jenkins never looked back en route to 6.277, 222.58 win.

On the other side of the ladder, Cannon showed his driving pedigree as he whipped Barklage on the tree. The starting line advantage worked for Cannon as he worked his way to the finish line with a 6.332, 224.36. Barklage lost despite a quicker 6.321, 226.54.

In the final round, Cannon rolled into a deep-stage and that was all Jenkins needed for the victory. The veteran Jenkins won with a 6.271 seconds to a 6.670 second pass for Cannon.