Tensions between two motocross families flared into a confrontation at Portland International Raceway that ended with a single but deadly punch, friends and family say.

Though investigators are still trying to piece together what happened Thursday night, friends and family of Anthony Mancuso, 61, on Saturday described a racing rivalry that got way out of hand.

Witnesses say the Portland man's son, Nick Mancuso, 20, and another young rider, Talyn Taylor, had become fiercely competitive in the last year. On Thursday night, they clashed again in the second intermediate-level race.

"They weren't really racing," according to Randy Fisher, an Oregon City resident and longtime friend of Mancuso. "They were jawing at each other, kind of hollering at each other."

In the first race, Nick Mancuso said, the two "were battling pretty good." But in the second race, "I was leading, and he hit me multiple times, to the point where I just pulled over and let him pass me," he said.

Afterward, both riders piloted their bikes to their respective "pits," where their fathers were waiting. Then Michael Taylor, 50, of Battle Ground, Washington, and his son ran to the Mancusos' pit, witnesses said.

There, the elder Mancuso reportedly tried to calm things down. Meanwhile, Nick Mancuso was shepherded away by people he said were trying to defuse the situation.

Then, the younger man said, he saw Michael Taylor throw a punch and watched his father drop to the ground.

"I knew Tony was done right there," said Patrick Muxlow, a family friend who said he came upon the scene shortly after Mancuso was felled.

"He was laying on the blacktop unconscious, bleeding out of his head on the black top," he said.

What killed Anthony Mancuso remains unclear; officials have not disclosed the official cause of death.

Taylor was arrested that night on suspicion of fourth-degree assault, but prosecutors have since dropped that charge and are preparing to present new charges to a grand jury, police said. Portland police, meanwhile, are still seeking out witnesses and video of the incident.

In a sport where young men wrestle heavy machines through tight quarters at high speeds, it's not surprising that tempers flare, motocross fans say. But the racers are supposed to leave that anger at the track.

"It's not supposed to happen like that," Fisher said.

Muxlow and Fisher recalled Mancuso as a generous, positive man and devoted father whose love of motocross was infectious.

"He was a fantastic guy," Fisher said. "If your bike broke down he would tear parts off his bikes to fix it, even if it was to race against his boys."

Nick Mancuso said he is still processing his emotions, saying his father "always had a smile on his face, always tried to make the best out of anything negative."

The elder Mancuso, a retired painter at an autobody shop, had long suffered from a liver condition that had sapped his strength, according to friends and family.

Muxlow said they met for lunch on Wednesday, and that Mancuso mentioned feeling weak and being due for a blood transfusion Friday morning.

"We discussed that he was only going to live another year, maybe two," Muxlow said. "That's why he was spending all his time with his kids, the way he always does, only more so."

Mancuso's family has set up a memorial fund to pay for his funeral and other expenses.

-- Nick Budnick



nbudnick@oregonian.com

503-294-5083

@nickbudnick