LUCAS OIL NATIONALS POSTPONED DUE TO HEAVY RAINS

MOHNTON, Pa. (Sept. 18) – Heavy rains from the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan saturated Maple Grove Raceway forcing NHRA officials to reschedule the Lucas Oil Nationals until Oct. 8-10.

The NHRA POWERade series moves to Dallas Sept. 23-26, then heads to Chicago Sept. 30-Oct. 3 before returning to the East Coast for the Lucas Oil Nationals.

“It’s a real shame for the fans, the racers, and all concerned that we couldn’t get the race in on the scheduled weekend,” said Brandon Bernstein, driver of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster. “But hopefully the weather will be more cooperative in October and we can put on a great show for the fans. Maple Grove is an exciting track. It’s fast and quick and has been historically the site of record runs.”

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READING, Pa. – Maple Grove Raceway, home of the Sept. 17-19 Lucas Oil Nationals, has traditionally been the site of many NHRA world records.

Six-time NHRA champ and Budweiser/Lucas Oil team owner Kenny Bernstein set an elapsed time world record there in Funny Car in 1985 and in 2001, set a world record speed of 332.18 mph at the popular East Coast facility.

Kenny’s son Brandon, now following in his father’s footsteps as the second generation King of Speed, holds the current world record speed of 333.41 mph set in May of this year at Las Vegas.

“All of us look forward to competing at Maple Grove,” said Brandon, who will be racing at this track for the first time in his professional career. “because it’s traditionally cool there and the track is surrounded by lots of trees that provide oxygen for these high-powered engines. It’s a good formula for setting records. The only caveat this year is that the nitromethane mixture that we use to fuel these engines has been reduced to 85 percent. When we set the record in May the rules dictated a 90 percent mixture.

“The crew chiefs adapt to new rules quickly, however, and they seem to be making lots of power, so we’ll see. I wouldn’t rule out the fact that the mile per hour or elapsed time records could be lowered.

“I just know from our Budweiser/Lucas Oil team side that we’re hoping maybe a switch from the hot, slick tracks we’ve been racing to the cooler, high performance tracks will help us go more rounds and going rounds is our focus.

“We haven’t visited victory circle since Topeka the end of May and we’re pretty hungry right now.”

Bernstein has scored three victories this season and is currently third in the POWERade Top Fuel championship chase, 80 points out of second place and 240 points out of the lead.

Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) qualifying for the Lucas Oil Nationals begins

Friday, Sept. 17 at 3:30 p.m. followed by a second session at 6:30 p.m. There are two qualifying sessions Saturday, noon and 3 p.m., with final eliminations at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Kenny Bernstein: King of Speed book just released: Kenny Bernstein and ESPN commentator Bill Stephens collaborated on this book which is a story in pictures and words of the remarkable racing career of Kenny Bernstein, one of the marquee names in motorsports. The 160-page, 10” x 10” hardcover book retails for $24.95 and can be found at major bookstores. It is also available at kennybernstein.com, amazon.com and sportspublishingllc.com.

LUCAS OIL NATIONALS
TELEVISION ADVISORY

Qualifying – Sept. 18 – ESPN2
4 – 5 p.m. ET

Eliminations – Sept. 19 – ESPN2
4 – 7 p.m. ET

Repeat Eliminations – Sept. 21 – ESPN2
3 -5 p.m. ET