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MILLINGTON, TN (8/15/06) -– With seven races remaining on the 23-event NHRA POWERade circuit, Brandon Bernstein and the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team need to make every pass down the quarter-mile count at the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals Aug.18-20.
During the first half of the season, the team made four trips to the final round, two to victory circle. Bernstein won the O’Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston in April, the Pontiac Performance Nationals in Columbus, Oh. in May and was runner-up at the O’Reilly Summernationals in Topeka in May and the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in St. Louis in June. He has qualified No. 1 three times this year.
Then during the July West Coast Swing, the team stumbled in the first round of each of the three races.
“It was frustrating,” said driver Bernstein. “The painful part is that Tim (Richards, crew chief),
Kim (Richards) and the team had the car running really stout in qualifying. It wasn’t like we were struggling. If there was a change from cooler to hotter track conditions in qualifying, we still went right down the track, clocking competitive numbers.
“In fact during the last two race of the West Coast Swing, our team was awarded the Full Throttle prize for performance and consistency in qualifying.
“It’s very obvious we’re running competitive numbers.
“Everyone in the Top Fuel point chase has had first round losses and it’s still very possible to be fighting for the championship at the end of the year. We need to capitalize if one of the teams in front of us goes out early. If that happens, you can make up a lot of ground quickly.
“We’re planning to attack each race one round at a time. Our team doesn’t dwell on past defeats. We lean toward the positive and we still have a shot at the championship.
“And one last thing. For whatever reasons, we’ve been successful at O’Reilly title rights races.
We expect the weather will be very hot in Memphis for this race and as a result, the track will be tricky. But let’s hope our team’s winning tradition continues for the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals.”
Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) qualifying begins Friday, Aug. 18 at 5:30 p.m. with a second session at 8 p.m. There are two qualifying rounds Saturday, 3 and 7 p.m., with final eliminations beginning Sunday at 3 p.m.
BERNSTEIN LOOKS FOR STRONG SHOWING AT NHRA O’REILLY MID-SOUTH NATIONALS
MILLINGTON, TN (8/15/06) -– With seven races remaining on the 23-event NHRA POWERade circuit, Brandon Bernstein and the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team need to make every pass down the quarter-mile count at the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals Aug.18-20.
During the first half of the season, the team made four trips to the final round, two to victory circle. Bernstein won the O’Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston in April, the Pontiac Performance Nationals in Columbus, Oh. in May and was runner-up at the O’Reilly Summernationals in Topeka in May and the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in St. Louis in June. He has qualified No. 1 three times this year.
Then during the July West Coast Swing, the team stumbled in the first round of each of the three races.
“It was frustrating,” said driver Bernstein. “The painful part is that Tim (Richards, crew chief),
Kim (Richards) and the team had the car running really stout in qualifying. It wasn’t like we were struggling. If there was a change from cooler to hotter track conditions in qualifying, we still went right down the track, clocking competitive numbers.
“In fact during the last two race of the West Coast Swing, our team was awarded the Full Throttle prize for performance and consistency in qualifying.
“It’s very obvious we’re running competitive numbers.
“Everyone in the Top Fuel point chase has had first round losses and it’s still very possible to be fighting for the championship at the end of the year. We need to capitalize if one of the teams in front of us goes out early. If that happens, you can make up a lot of ground quickly.
“We’re planning to attack each race one round at a time. Our team doesn’t dwell on past defeats. We lean toward the positive and we still have a shot at the championship.
“And one last thing. For whatever reasons, we’ve been successful at O’Reilly title rights races.
We expect the weather will be very hot in Memphis for this race and as a result, the track will be tricky. But let’s hope our team’s winning tradition continues for the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals.”
Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) qualifying begins Friday, Aug. 18 at 5:30 p.m. with a second session at 8 p.m. There are two qualifying rounds Saturday, 3 and 7 p.m., with final eliminations beginning Sunday at 3 p.m.
