Nice piece by Damian Dottore. Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Back and forth
Irvine's Brandon Bernstein often has held the top spot, only to let it slip away.
By DAMIAN DOTTORE
The Orange County Register
Brandon Bernstein has driven down this road before, the one that has led him to first place in the Top Fuel driver standings.
And each time the Irvine resident ended up stuck on the side of the road, watching someone else speed past him.
Is Bernstein doomed to watch reruns so early into this NHRA season? Maybe so.
One week after taking over the points lead, Bernstein lost to Bruce Litton in the first round of the Midwest Nationals on Sunday. As a result, he fell to second place in the race for the Top Fuel championship. Litton beat Bernstein, the No. 3 qualifier, off the starting line and to the finish, clocking in at 4.622 seconds while Bernstein powered down the drag strip in 4.648 seconds.
Shocking results considering Bernstein has quite a track record at Gateway International Raceway. He won this event in 2005 and was the runner-up at the Madison, Ill., strip last year.
"We were consistent. … (Crew chief) Tim (Richards) has developed a tuneup for our car that has led to some very consistent weekends for us," Bernstein said.
His two qualifying passes for the Midwest Nationals were in the 4.60-second range and within three-thousandths of a second of each other.
And during the Summitracing.com Nationals in April, the race that began to turn his season around, three of his four runs down the quarter-mile during eliminations at The Strip in Las Vegas were all in the 4.50s. He beat Bob Vandergriff in the Top Fuel final April 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, beginning a two-race winning streak that helped him gain seven spots in the standings (moving from eighth to first).
"I have always said that consistency wins rounds. In this instance, though, Bruce's team just had a little bit more in the tuneup (at the Midwest Nationals), Bernstein."
The Midwest Nationals marked the third time, since Bernstein made his Top Fuel debut four seasons ago, that he entered an event at the top of the class.
After defeating Doug Herbert in the finals of the 2003 Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., Bernstein's sixth race as a pro, he moved into first place for the first time in his career. During the next race, however, he lost in the quarterfinals and fell to second. Two weeks later, he suffered a season-ending back injury when his dragster flipped over the wall in Englishtown, N.J.
He'd have to wait more than a year to get back on top, bumping the eventual 2004 champion, Tony Schumacher, to second after the Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan. Bernstein's lead lasted for one race.
"Hey, with the points system that we have now, though, all you have to do now to be a champion is make sure that you are eighth," Bernstein said.
This season, the NHRA has introduced a points system that resembles the Chase for the Championship used in the Nextel Cup Series. After 17 races, the top eight racers in each professional category will have their points totals reset. After that, the top four competitors after the first four playoff races (there will be only three playoff races in Pro Stock Motorcycle) will have their point totals adjusted again. Finally, those four drag racers will settle the championship over the final two races.
"Now, it doesn't even matter if you don't qualify for a race anymore," Bernstein said.
And that's a good thing for Bernstein. He came up less than four-hundredths of a second short during time trials for the Gatornationals in March and failed to earn a spot in the 16-car final eliminations ladder for the first time in his professional career.
He lost traction on his first two runs down Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway, made a mistake on his third, lifting off of the throttle a bit too soon. On his fourth and final qualifying attempt, he said his team "played it too safe."
"It was a big downer for us because we have always qualified," Bernstein said. "But we tried to stay positive. We know that we have a championship-caliber team."
But from there it only got worse for Bernstein. Less than a week later, one of his best friends, Eric Medlen, was dead, the victim of a vicious Funny Car testing accident. Bernstein said that was "one of the lowest points of my life."
Medlen, Bernstein and J.R. Todd, one of Bernstein's Top Fuel rivals, were the "The Three Bros," that's what Bernstein said they like to call each other because they were inseparable at the track.
Bernstein has put a photo of the three of them, taken at last year's NHRA awards banquet, in the cockpit of his dragster. It will stay there for the remainder of the season, he said. Maybe longer. Now, before each run down the strip, Bernstein touches the photo and says, "I know you are with me."
"And then … I don't know … I tell him, 'It's all going to be good,' " Bernstein said.
Who knows? It finally might be this year for Bernstein.
Back and forth
Irvine's Brandon Bernstein often has held the top spot, only to let it slip away.
By DAMIAN DOTTORE
The Orange County Register
Brandon Bernstein has driven down this road before, the one that has led him to first place in the Top Fuel driver standings.
And each time the Irvine resident ended up stuck on the side of the road, watching someone else speed past him.
Is Bernstein doomed to watch reruns so early into this NHRA season? Maybe so.
One week after taking over the points lead, Bernstein lost to Bruce Litton in the first round of the Midwest Nationals on Sunday. As a result, he fell to second place in the race for the Top Fuel championship. Litton beat Bernstein, the No. 3 qualifier, off the starting line and to the finish, clocking in at 4.622 seconds while Bernstein powered down the drag strip in 4.648 seconds.
Shocking results considering Bernstein has quite a track record at Gateway International Raceway. He won this event in 2005 and was the runner-up at the Madison, Ill., strip last year.
"We were consistent. … (Crew chief) Tim (Richards) has developed a tuneup for our car that has led to some very consistent weekends for us," Bernstein said.
His two qualifying passes for the Midwest Nationals were in the 4.60-second range and within three-thousandths of a second of each other.
And during the Summitracing.com Nationals in April, the race that began to turn his season around, three of his four runs down the quarter-mile during eliminations at The Strip in Las Vegas were all in the 4.50s. He beat Bob Vandergriff in the Top Fuel final April 15 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, beginning a two-race winning streak that helped him gain seven spots in the standings (moving from eighth to first).
"I have always said that consistency wins rounds. In this instance, though, Bruce's team just had a little bit more in the tuneup (at the Midwest Nationals), Bernstein."
The Midwest Nationals marked the third time, since Bernstein made his Top Fuel debut four seasons ago, that he entered an event at the top of the class.
After defeating Doug Herbert in the finals of the 2003 Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., Bernstein's sixth race as a pro, he moved into first place for the first time in his career. During the next race, however, he lost in the quarterfinals and fell to second. Two weeks later, he suffered a season-ending back injury when his dragster flipped over the wall in Englishtown, N.J.
He'd have to wait more than a year to get back on top, bumping the eventual 2004 champion, Tony Schumacher, to second after the Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan. Bernstein's lead lasted for one race.
"Hey, with the points system that we have now, though, all you have to do now to be a champion is make sure that you are eighth," Bernstein said.
This season, the NHRA has introduced a points system that resembles the Chase for the Championship used in the Nextel Cup Series. After 17 races, the top eight racers in each professional category will have their points totals reset. After that, the top four competitors after the first four playoff races (there will be only three playoff races in Pro Stock Motorcycle) will have their point totals adjusted again. Finally, those four drag racers will settle the championship over the final two races.
"Now, it doesn't even matter if you don't qualify for a race anymore," Bernstein said.
And that's a good thing for Bernstein. He came up less than four-hundredths of a second short during time trials for the Gatornationals in March and failed to earn a spot in the 16-car final eliminations ladder for the first time in his professional career.
He lost traction on his first two runs down Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway, made a mistake on his third, lifting off of the throttle a bit too soon. On his fourth and final qualifying attempt, he said his team "played it too safe."
"It was a big downer for us because we have always qualified," Bernstein said. "But we tried to stay positive. We know that we have a championship-caliber team."
But from there it only got worse for Bernstein. Less than a week later, one of his best friends, Eric Medlen, was dead, the victim of a vicious Funny Car testing accident. Bernstein said that was "one of the lowest points of my life."
Medlen, Bernstein and J.R. Todd, one of Bernstein's Top Fuel rivals, were the "The Three Bros," that's what Bernstein said they like to call each other because they were inseparable at the track.
Bernstein has put a photo of the three of them, taken at last year's NHRA awards banquet, in the cockpit of his dragster. It will stay there for the remainder of the season, he said. Maybe longer. Now, before each run down the strip, Bernstein touches the photo and says, "I know you are with me."
"And then … I don't know … I tell him, 'It's all going to be good,' " Bernstein said.
Who knows? It finally might be this year for Bernstein.
