BERNSTEIN’S SECOND CONSECUTIVE FINAL FOUR APPEARANCE
GAINS HIM ONE MORE POSITION IN TOP FUEL POINT STANDINGS

KIRKERSVILLE, Ohio (May 22) – At the NHRA Pontiac Performance Nationals, Brandon Bernstein drove the Kenny Bernstein-owned Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster to its second consecutive semifinals finish this season. The final four showing boosted Bernstein to sixth place in POWERade Top Fuel point standings.

Bernstein qualified eighth at National Trail Raceway with a 4.632/323.97.

On a race day filled with ever-changing weather conditions, the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team made round-by-round performance strides.

Bernstein won the opening round against Cory McClenathan, 4.608/318.39 to McClenathan’s 4.853/324.12.

"Cory Mac and his team are tough,” said Bernstein. “You have to be on your game. That was a great job by Tim (crew chief) and Kim (Richards). With the cloud cover moving toward us, it's a tough call on the tune-up. The car shook a bit coming off the line, and I was afraid we weren't going to make it for a minute there."

Bernstein bested Doug Herbert in the quarterfinals to earn a trip to the semis. Herbert smoked the tires early on (9.873/104.56) and Bernstein continued to quicken his pace, 4.546/324.20.

"The cloud cover was over us and track conditions have changed again,” said Bernstein. “Tim, Kim and the team had a great tune-up one more time, but we might have hurt the engine.”

The Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel engine had indeed suffered a burned piston. With the threat of rain, NHRA officials shortened the time between rounds on race day from 75 to 65 minutes. All hands were on deck to clean and service the car for the semifinals. Brandon pitched in while father Kenny packed the parachutes.

In a spectacular side-by-side semifinal battle between Bernstein and Tony Schumacher, it was Schumacher with a narrow margin of victory at the finish line, 4.504/333.41 to Bernstein’s 4.541/328.78.

“We’re making some terrific headway,” said Bernstein. “Competition is just tough out here. We brought our A game, we had consistency, but we lost by just a tick in the end. The team made great tuning calls today in ever-changing conditions. We are sooooo close.”

BUDWEISER/LUCAS OIL TEAM HOPING TO KEEP GROWING PERFORMANCE MOMENTUM

KIRKERSVILLE, Ohio – Second generation driver Brandon Bernstein holds the elapsed time track record at National Trail Raceway. He set the 4.489-second mark en route to the No. 1 qualifying position at last year’s Pontiac Performance Nationals.

“We hope to be able to take a run at some good numbers when we return this year,” said Bernstein as he heads into this year’s May 20-22 event. “Recently we’ve been fortunate to have set some good performance marks. At Bristol we were the No. 1 qualifier and set low elapsed time and top speed of the event.

“That shows us we are in the hunt and have the capability to win some rounds,” continued the driver of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster. “This team is hungry for a victory.

“Typically this race is challenging from a weather standpoint. Very often we don’t get the full compliment of four qualifying runs because we’re plagued with rain. This means every run down the quarter-mile has to count and the crew chiefs don’t get much margin for error.

“With the date change this year perhaps we’ll be out of the rain window. The more runs you can get before race day, the more data you can store to help make decisions on that all-important day of eliminations. Right now we need all the POWERade points we can grab.”

Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) qualifying begins Friday, May 20 at 5 p.m. with a second session at 8 p.m. There are two qualifying rounds Saturday, 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., with eliminations set to begin Sunday at 11 a.m.

Brandon Bernstein will throw out the first pitch at the Columbus Clippers game Thursday, May 19 at 7:05 p.m. at Cooper Stadium. Bernstein will be available for autographs and photo opportunities in the left field Quencher Corner from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. Cooper Stadium is located at 1155 W. Mound in Columbus.

PONTIAC PERFORMANCE NATIONALS
TELEVISION ADVISORY

Qualifying – May 21 – ESPN2
11 p.m. – 1 a.m. ET

Eliminations – May 22 – ESPN2
7 – 10 p.m. ET