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MILLINGTON, Tenn. (Aug. 21) – Brandon Bernstein and the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team continue to whittle away at the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel championship point standings. After the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, the team gained a position and is now third in point standings. Additionally they are only 16 points, less than one round, behind second place and 156 points out of the lead.
Bernstein qualified third for the 17th event in the 23-race series, with a 4.605-second elapsed time at a speed of 324.05 mph. Bernstein’s qualifying speed held throughout the weekend as top speed of the event.
In the first round of eliminations, Bernstein and Doug Herbert squared off under very hot, sunny conditions with track temperatures in excess of 130 degrees. Both cars lost traction, Herbert early on, and Bernstein at half track. Bernstein drove to the win light with a 5.325/221.02 vs. Herbert’s 5.531/257.63.
Before the second round got underway, persistent rain storms battered the racetrack. At 9 p.m. Sunday evening, NHRA officials were forced to postpone eliminations until Monday morning.
When racing resumed, Bernstein drove to the starting line to face the driver of the rival “blue” car, Larry Dixon. As announcer Bob Frey frequently likes to say, ‘Tim (Richards, crew chief) had the Budweiser/Lucas Oil car running on mean.’
Dixon and Bernstein left together, Dixon began to nose ahead, but about the 400-foot mark, Bernstein blasted by to set low elapsed time of the meet (4.553 seconds) at 327.59 mph, winning by a car length.
“Larry and I are good buddies,” said Bernstein, “but we both really get up for these head to head matches. Neither one of us wants to call our sponsor and say they lost to the other beer car. They’re a tough team and I know Tim put a lot of thought into that tune-up. That was a great ride.”
The semifinals face off against Doug Kalitta saw an unexpected gremlin weaken the performance of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster. Kalitta had a trouble-free run to the win light, while the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster dropped two cylinders at the hit of the throttle.
“Fuel system problems cropped up on that run,” said a disappointed Bernstein. “We obviously would have liked to gain a few points in the championship chase. We definitely have the team and we have proven we can run competitive numbers. Here in Memphis we had both top speed and low elapsed time of the event. That’s a big feather in the team’s hat.
“And very importantly, we gained a position in points. We’re third and we’re going after second place. But we have to defend our position from drivers coming up behind us in the points as well. I’m sure there will be some big dogfights in these final races.”
BERNSTEIN INCHING HIS WAY UP THE CHAMPIONSHIP POINT LADDER; SETS LOW ELAPSED TIME AND TOP SPEED AT O’REILLY MID-SOUTH NATIONALS
MILLINGTON, Tenn. (Aug. 21) – Brandon Bernstein and the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team continue to whittle away at the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel championship point standings. After the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, the team gained a position and is now third in point standings. Additionally they are only 16 points, less than one round, behind second place and 156 points out of the lead.
Bernstein qualified third for the 17th event in the 23-race series, with a 4.605-second elapsed time at a speed of 324.05 mph. Bernstein’s qualifying speed held throughout the weekend as top speed of the event.
In the first round of eliminations, Bernstein and Doug Herbert squared off under very hot, sunny conditions with track temperatures in excess of 130 degrees. Both cars lost traction, Herbert early on, and Bernstein at half track. Bernstein drove to the win light with a 5.325/221.02 vs. Herbert’s 5.531/257.63.
Before the second round got underway, persistent rain storms battered the racetrack. At 9 p.m. Sunday evening, NHRA officials were forced to postpone eliminations until Monday morning.
When racing resumed, Bernstein drove to the starting line to face the driver of the rival “blue” car, Larry Dixon. As announcer Bob Frey frequently likes to say, ‘Tim (Richards, crew chief) had the Budweiser/Lucas Oil car running on mean.’
Dixon and Bernstein left together, Dixon began to nose ahead, but about the 400-foot mark, Bernstein blasted by to set low elapsed time of the meet (4.553 seconds) at 327.59 mph, winning by a car length.
“Larry and I are good buddies,” said Bernstein, “but we both really get up for these head to head matches. Neither one of us wants to call our sponsor and say they lost to the other beer car. They’re a tough team and I know Tim put a lot of thought into that tune-up. That was a great ride.”
The semifinals face off against Doug Kalitta saw an unexpected gremlin weaken the performance of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster. Kalitta had a trouble-free run to the win light, while the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster dropped two cylinders at the hit of the throttle.
“Fuel system problems cropped up on that run,” said a disappointed Bernstein. “We obviously would have liked to gain a few points in the championship chase. We definitely have the team and we have proven we can run competitive numbers. Here in Memphis we had both top speed and low elapsed time of the event. That’s a big feather in the team’s hat.
“And very importantly, we gained a position in points. We’re third and we’re going after second place. But we have to defend our position from drivers coming up behind us in the points as well. I’m sure there will be some big dogfights in these final races.”
