KENNY BERNSTEIN, Owner

Birthplace: Clovis, New Mexico

Current Residence: Lake Forest, California

Years with Budweiser King Racing: 30

Other racing experience:  Began pro career in the late 1960s in Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, and in 1973 reached the Funny Car finals at the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, Calif.  Returned to racing in 1978, and a year later was the Funny Car winner at the NHRA Cajun Nationals at Baton Rouge, La.  In 1980, began an association with the Budweiser brand of Anheuser-Busch, Inc., which stands as the longest-running active team/sponsor partnership in motorsports. A four-time NHRA Winston Funny Car Champion, and also an IHRA Winston World Championship Funny Car crown to his credit, he is a seven-time AARWBA Auto Racing All-American.  Bernstein earned the title “King of Speed” when he became the first NHRA driver to break the elusive 300 mile-per-hour barrier when he was clocked at 301.70 mph on March 20, 1992, during qualifying for the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla.  He was the first to reach 310 mph, when he was clocked at 311.85 mph on October 30, 1994, at Pomona Calif.  Holds the unique distinction of being the first and only race team owner to have collected wins in each of America’s three major motorsports series -- NHRA Winston Drag Racing, NASCAR Winston Cup and IndyCar. Won the 1996 NHRA Winston Top Fuel Championship becoming the first driver to win NHRA championships in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.  Honored at the 1997 Car Craft awards banquet by receiving the prestigious Ollie Award with Dale Armstrong for all of their years of dedication to the sport of NHRA Winston Drag Racing.  Inducted into Petersen Publishing HOT ROD Magazine’s Hall of Fame as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People within the high performance industry.  Won his second NHRA Top Fuel championship in 2001, by virtue of eight national event wins.  In 2001, he won 61 rounds of competition, setting an NHRA record for the number of Top Fuel rounds won in a season, a record that was intact at the end of Bernstein’s driving career.  In 2001 he set both ends of the world performance records, speed (332.18 mph) and elapsed time (4.477 seconds), records that were still unbroken at the end of Bernstein’s 2002 driving career. Also in 2001, he was voted in the top ten drivers in NHRA’s 50-year history.  In 2003, Bernstein competed in 15 NHRA national events, substituting for his son who was injured May 18 in Englishtown, N.J.  Bernstein won four of the last five events of the ’03 season, amassing 39 Top Fuel victories boosting him to second on the all-time Top Fuel win list, surpassing the legendary Don Garlits. His 39 Top Fuel victories, combined with 30 Funny Car victories, make him No. 2 on the career nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) win list. Also, Bernstein surpassed 1000 rounds of competition, which ranks him No. 2 on the all-time list of nitro category career rounds of competition.  In 2005 Bernstein was named by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association as one of 12 nominees for the Newsmaker of the Half-Century award.  In April of 2006, he was inducted into the Texas Motor Sports Hall of Fame during a gala at the Texas Motor Speedway. Bernstein staged an NHRA comeback in 2007 driving a Monster Energy/Lucas Oil Dodge Charger Funny Car and finished runner-up twice.  At the end of the 2007 season, he made a decision to step from the cockpit and continue his role as owner of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster and the Monster Energy Funny Car.  Additionally in 2007, Bernstein was inducted into the Don Garlits International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. In 2008, he continued to guide his two race teams. 2009 is a landmark year for Bernstein.  It is the 30th anniversary of his Budweiser sponsorship, the longest team/sponsorship association in all of autosports.

KENNY BERNSTEIN:
  MOTORSPORTS ICON AND HALL OF FAMER

Kenny Bernstein surprised the racing community when he announced his 2007 Funny Car comeback at the wheel of the Monster Energy/Lucas Oil Funny Car.  In an equally stunning announcement in December of 2007, Bernstein revealed his decision to step out of the driver’s seat and named popular Funny Car shoe Tommy Johnson Jr. as his successor.

After amassing four Funny Car titles (1985-1988) and two Top Fuel championships (1996, 2001), six-time NHRA champion Kenny Bernstein retired from NHRA competition as a driver at the end of the 2002 season.

In 2003, he returned to drive unexpectedly when his son, Brandon, suffered back injuries in a racing accident that sidelined him for the season.  Kenny finished the season with a flourish, winning the last four of five races, tallying 69 career victories, 30 in Funny Car and 39 in Top Fuel.  There was hardly a major NHRA award he hadn’t won, and most he’d won in multiples. At the track in his role solely as team owner, though, his competitive nature and the itch to return to the cockpit made him an uncomfortable sideline observer.  
Monster Energy provided the perfect sponsorship opportunity for Bernstein’s return to NHRA competition.   Bernstein’s 2007 season, touted as the “Back in Black” tour, was highlighted by a pair of runner-up finishes.  When seasoned Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. confided at the end of 2007 that he was without a ride for 2008, Bernstein decided to seize the opportunity to hire Johnson and put his own helmet back on the shelf.

Known as a savvy businessman, Bernstein is a merchandiser, salesman and avid ambassador for products he represents.  It’s his combination of professionalism, commitment and competitiveness that have made him a motorsports icon.  Bernstein has always credited his father, Bert, with teaching him the principals of business that have contributed to his success. In his adult years, Kenny owned a variety of successful businesses and is widely credited with turning the hobby of racing into the business of racing.  In 1985 Kenny Bernstein formed one of the first sports marketing companies that focused its efforts exclusively in motorsports. Representing a number of fortune 500 companies, King Sports grew into becoming a major player in literally every major form of motorsports in America.

Bernstein began his professional driving career in the late 1960s in Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars in and around Texas. He was in and out of racing in the ‘70s, spending the majority of his time founding and managing a chain of restaurants named Chelsea Street Pubs.  In 1980 he became a fulltime campaigner on the NHRA circuit with Budweiser sponsorship, having sold his interest in the restaurants.  He dominated Funny Car competition in the 1980s setting many performance records.  He switched to Top Fuel in 1990 and continued to make history.
Bernstein earned the title “King of Speed” when he became the first NHRA driver to break the 300 miles-per-hour barrier March 20, 1992, during qualifying for the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

He was also the first to win championships in both nitro categories, Funny Car and Top Fuel.
He holds the unique distinction of being the first and only race team owner to have collected wins in each of America’s three major motorsports series:  NHRA drag racing, NASCAR, and CART.

In May of ‘92, the same year Bernstein made headlines as the first to surpass the 300 miles-per-hour barrier in NHRA drag racing, the CART team he owned, with Roberto Guerrero at the wheel, won the pole for the Indy 500.  Bernstein’s roster of CART drivers included such stars as Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser, Sr. and Jim Crawford.

On the NASCAR side, Ricky Rudd and Brett Bodine headlined the driving efforts, led by crew chief turned television personality, Larry McReynolds.

Bernstein was nominated for the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association Newsmaker of the Half-Century award in 2005. Other nominees included in the list of motor sports royalty in alphabetical order were: Mario Andretti, Dale Earnhardt, John Force, A.J. Foyt, the France family, Jeff Gordon, Dan Gurney, the Hulman-George family, Wally Parks, Roger Penske and Richard Petty.

Bernstein was also voted in the top 10 on NHRA’s 50 Greatest Drivers list in 2001.  He was inducted into the Texas Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Don Garlits International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2007.

He has made his mark, but his expertise goes far beyond wins and losses.  He is first and foremost a businessman and he is focused on helping to build awareness and sales for Monster Energy drinks and Budweiser.

“We’ve enjoyed a lot of accolades in our career,” summarized Bernstein. “Now it’s time for me to take a step back, continue to guide Brandon’s career, and be there to help and support Tommy. 

“It’s been a good ride and we owe a debt of gratitude to numerous people who have contributed to our success through the years.  Perhaps I can repay that debt and contribute to the success of others.”

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