BERNSTEIN MOVES TO FOURTH IN POWERade TOP FUEL POINT STANDINGS AT NHRA LUCAS OIL NATIONALS

BRAINERD, Minn (Aug. 14). – The Budweiser/Lucas Oil team continued their mid-season rally with a semifinal showing at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Minnesota, and gained two valuable positions in POWERade point standings. Driver Brandon Bernstein, now fourth in the Top Fuel championship chase, is enjoying the highest ranking in the standings he’s had this season.

In the first round of Saturday qualifying, Bernstein became the first to surpass the 330 mph barrier at Brainerd International Raceway with a 330.07. He improved in the final session Saturday with a 4.514/332.26 clocking, which seeded him fifth in the final Top Fuel qualifying order.

The Budweiser/Lucas Oil team lobbed a strong opening volley in the first round of eliminations, with Bernstein driving to the round win (4.584/332.84) to retire Scott Weis who hazed the tires (6.024/152.74).

Bernstein collected the quarterfinals win against Joe Hartley, sacrificing an engine in the process, but his 4.705/295.27 was enough to get him to the finish line before tire-hazing Joe Hartley (6.540/133.29).

In the semifinals against Doug Kalitta, the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster lost traction about the 400-foot mark, while Kalitta had a trouble-free run, crossing the finish line first with a 4.576/326.95.

“It’s awesome to have gained two places in the point standings,” said Bernstein. “All of us on the team are very focused and I hope we can continue our march to the front. There are still seven races left in the season so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

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BUDWEISER/LUCAS OIL TEAM HOPES TO SUSTAIN MID-SEASON RALLY AT LUCAS OIL NATIONALS

BRAINERD, Minn. – In the four races leading into the Lucas Oil Nationals, Brandon Bernstein, driver of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster, has won two races and raced to the semifinals in one event. Bernstein, who is sponsored by Lucas Oil, is riding the momentum of some outstanding performance numbers in the most recent events, and is looking forward to continuing to go rounds at the Lucas Oil Nationals Aug. 12-14.

“The last two years we’ve come out with guns blazing and won races early,” said Bernstein, son of six-time NHRA champion Kenny. “This season has been more of a rollercoaster year, but in these last several races, we’ve had some outstanding runs. We won in St. Louis in June and Seattle last month. We were the No. 1 qualifier in Denver, and set a track elapsed time record in Sonoma, in addition to having low elapsed time of the first two rounds. This car is set on mean and we made some real progress in the points chase as well.

“Going into Brainerd we’re sixth in Top Fuel standings, only 13 points out of fifth place and 15 points out of fourth. That’s just one round of competition. If we can put some round wins together, we can make a big jump in points.

“Tim (Richards, crew chief), Kim (Richards) and the team have been working a lot of hours and I’ve been trying really, really hard on the driving side. We’re all thinking positively! It looks like all our efforts are paying off and I just hope we can continue down this competitive path at Brainerd and the rest of the season. Obviously it would be nice to win for Charlotte and Forest Lucas.”

Bernstein was in the semifinals at Brainerd International Raceway last year and garnered top speed honors at 327.35 mph. This will be his second Top Fuel driving appearance at this track.

Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) qualifying begins Friday, August 12 at 3:30 p.m. with a second session scheduled for 6:30 p.m. There are two qualifying runs Saturday, noon and 3 p.m. with final eliminations scheduled Sunday at 11 a.m.

LUCAS OIL NATIONALS TELEVISION ADVISORY

Qualifying – August 13 – ESPN2
6 – 8 p.m. ET

Eliminations – August 14 – ESPN2
7 – 10 p.m. ET

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