TOPEKA, Kan. (May 30) – Over Memorial Day weekend, Brandon Bernstein took a drive in the family car to victory circle at the O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. In addition to adding another trophy to the hallowed halls of his father’s race shop, he vaulted to the top of the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel point standings and now leads by 20 points.

Bernstein qualified second in the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster with a 4.566-second elapsed time at 325.45 mph and won the opening round of eliminations, defeating Scott Palmer, 4.536/330.55 vs. Palmer’s tire-smoking 8.722/98.41. Bernstein’s first-round speed, 330.55 mph, set a track record and was top speed of the O’Reilly Summer Nationals.

"The car picked the front end up, set it down, and it felt like it picked it up again out there,” said Bernstein. “The track is a little tricky, with the sun going in and out. Next round will be tough, but we think we're ready."

The quarterfinals were filled with tension. Car owners Kenny Bernstein vs. Don Prudhomme. Crew chief Tim Richards vs. crew chief and father-in-law Dick LaHaie. Drivers Brandon Bernstein vs. Larry Dixon. Budweiser vs. “the blue car” (the other beer). When the light turned green, the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team unleashed their quickest elapsed time of the weekend, 4.493 at 328.14 mph, vs. Dixon’s 7.628/99.25.

"Tim said he wasn't going to step on it that much,” said Bernstein. “I don't think he thought it would run that quick. That was a big win for us. Dixon’s tough.”

Bernstein defeated Doug Herbert in the semifinals (4.555/327.66 vs. 6.388/146.57) to transfer to the money round, which was slated to be a rematch of the previous week’s final round at the Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill., Bernstein vs. Doug Kalitta.

Both drivers hazed the tires, but Bernstein was first to cross the finish line (4.729/294.43 vs. Kalitta’s 4.874/291.95). It was Bernstein’s sixth career victory, his third this season.

“It was nice to be able to bring home the victory this weekend,” said a jubilant Bernstein. “Tim (Richards, crew chief), Kim and the team did an awesome job. The conditions today were a little tricky, cool in the first couple of rounds and then the sun came out and it got warm.

“We hazed the tires about the 800-foot mark, but I just kept my foot in it because I didn’t hear or see Kalitta. I was just hoping we could stay in front.”

Brandon took the point lead for one race last season, and ironically has taken the Top Fuel point lead this year in Topeka, just as his father did in 2001 en route to his sixth world championship.

“We’re really excited to take the lead and we hope we can hang on to it for a while,” said Brandon. “But there’s a lot of racing left. We’ll be coming into some warm weather soon, and we’re fortunate that Tim seems to have a good cold weather and warm weather tune-up. It’s never easy out here. It’s just too soon to make any predictions. We just need to keep going rounds.”

Bernstein also holds the NHRA national speed record, 333.41 mph.

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TOPEKA, Kan. – Brandon Bernstein has had the most successful career launch of any other Top Fuel or Funny Car driver in NHRA history, having won five races in his first 13 outings.

Bernstein, son of six-time champion Kenny, took the wheel of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster at the beginning of the 2003 season, winning three events early in the season, briefly leading the Top Fuel point chase. The fairy tale era came to an abrupt halt when Bernstein suffered season-ending back injuries in a first round crash May 18 in Englishtown, N.J.

Though the NHRA POWERade circuit was on a strenuous three-in-a-row race string, the team, captained by crew chief Tim Richards, assembled the back-up dragster and five days after the accident, Kenny climbed out of retirement and back into the familiar confines of the cockpit to compete first at Heartland Park Topeka and then on to finish the season.

The May 28-30 O’Reilly Summer Nationals will mark Brandon’s first trip down the Topeka quarter-mile.

With two races wins to his credit already this season and the Top Fuel chase sizzling, Brandon is looking forward to competing in Kansas.

“Racing at Heartland Park will be a new experience for me,” said Brandon.

“The pressure is really on this season and it’s so important to be able to go rounds. If it’s sunny and hot, it will put an additional burden on the crew chiefs and teams to get the cars down the track. It gets real tricky under these circumstances, but we’re heading into the summer months and the teams will be adjusting their tune-ups for these types of conditions.

“We’re fortunate to have Tim (Richards, crew chief) and Kim (Richards), who have a lot of experience to draw upon, so we’re hoping to have a good weekend.”

The Budweiser/Lucas Oil team with Tim working the tune-up combination, and Kenny in the cockpit, won this event in 2001, the same year they won the Top Fuel championship.

Kenny also won here in 1997, and was runner-up in two events at Heartland Park Topeka in 1996. He was runner-up in 1995 and 1998 at this track.

Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) Qualifying: Friday, May 28, 5 and 8 p.m.; Saturday, May 29, 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. Final Eliminations Sunday at 11 a.m.

O’REILLY SUMMER NATIONALS

TELEVISION ADVISORY

Qualifying – May 29 – ESPN2

8-10 p.m. ET

Eliminations – May 30 – ESPN2

4 – 6 p.m. ET