BERNER ENDS FINAL ROUND STREAK AT TWO
GRAND BEND, ONT. – For Pete Berner, the term “two out of three ain’t bad” is an applicable one when considering his IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals weekend. A first round loss to Bob Bertsch brought to an end a streak of two consecutive final rounds.
Berner’s dilemma? He just couldn’t pull enough power out of the car. It all goes back to Saturday night’s run.
“We backed her down a lot for Sunday,” Berner said. “Even though the wheel speed was much lower than we had on Saturday night, we probably pulled it down only half of what we needed. It shook the tires and was way too aggressive. It should have went down there but I guess there wasn’t enough track to make it all happen.
“The motor is making big power right now. It wanted to go fast and I have no doubt that it had a 6.20-something in it. We had some tremendous air conditions, the barometer was the best we’d seen all year to this point.”
Berner’s tire-shaking loss to Bertsch was a costly one as he surrendered the points lead after gaining it on the strength of three final round appearances in the first four races of 2007.
Berner entered Sunday’s eliminations as the fifth qualifier.
