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DALLAS (Sept. 23) – The most haunting, unforgettable moment from the O’Reilly Fall Nationals jammed cyberspace for hours as fans and friends searched for information surrounding the horrifying incident involving Kenny Bernstein and John Force.
Force, whose car was beginning to break apart, collided into Bernstein and the two legends crashed together before smacking the retaining wall. Bernstein was virtually unscathed in the accident, while Force was transported to a Dallas hospital with a broken left ankle, a severe abrasion on his right knee, as well as a dislocated left wrist. Force also sustained severe abrasions and slight fractures on a number of fingers on his right hand.
Prior to race day action, Bernstein qualified the Monster Energy/Lucas Oil Funny Car in the sixth position with a 4.840/314.31.
Bernstein won the opening round against Mike Ashley with a 4.888/312.35 while Ashley lost traction and spun the tires, crossing the finish line with a 6.002/161.48.
. “That was a great job by Jimmy (Walsh, crew chief) and the whole team. It always feels good to come back to Dallas to race. We have a lot of friends here, and several of the guys I raced for early in my career are with us at the track today.”
Perhaps the most anticipated match of the day was the second round pairing of Bernstein and Force. With 194 national events wins and 20 NHRA world championships between the two drivers, the crowd was anxious to see who would take bragging rights at the Texas Motorplex. Instead they saw a horrendous wreck in which both cars were collected and slammed against the retaining wall.
“When I left the starting line everything was normal,” said Bernstein. “About half track the car dropped a cylinder and moved toward the center line. I was fighting the wheel to stay off the center line. I remember right at the finish line thinking ‘I may have clipped that cone with the body or the rear tire.’ I knew I was real close. Either an instant before then or at that time, I reached up or was in the process of reaching up to release the (para)chutes and lifted my foot off the throttle right then.
“But at that instant, or just prior to that, I saw John’s car out of the corner of my left eye heading toward me. He wasn’t approaching at a 90-degree angle, but it was a pretty severe angle. I remember seeing the black front end of his car coming toward me and the next thing I knew we hit and then stuff just started flying everywhere. I couldn’t see then because the (race car) body had gotten knocked up in the air in front of me and my vision was obstructed. I didn’t remember going into the wall, but the evidence on the body and the headers show that. Now that I think back, I remember feeling a solid hit on the right side so it must have taken both of us right into the wall.
“My car was jumping around, I guess the best way to describe it, was like a frog. It wasn’t on all fours. It was on the front two tires, the side two, the back two, just everywhere. My first thought was that I was going to hit the wall again or turn over. I had to get on the brake and start driving.
“During the time I sustained the impact from the initial hit and then the wall contact, I had both hands on the wheel. I had released the brake to try to get the car back in shape. I did manage to get the car back under control. I started to coast and had the brakes on when out of my right eye I saw something go speeding by. In front of me, I saw the remains of the front half of John’s car. The engine and the chassis went by me on the right side and went all the way to the end of the track. I thought at that time, John was down there. I released the brake and let the car coast to try to get down to him to see if I could help. But when I got there, I realized he wasn’t there. That was just the front half of the car. When I turned around to look, I saw all the people gathered back down the track so I went back to the wreckage to see if John was okay.
“John suffered some broken bones and I know he’s going to have a tough recuperative period. Sheryl, Brandon and I went to the hospital to be with his family. Of all things, right after the helicopter left with John, two medics came back and said John sent them to tell me he was sorry. John is always thinking of others.”
“John feels terrible that there are some people that are blaming Kenny,” said Dave Densmore, Public Relations Director of John Force Racing. “Kenny hit a cone, which every driver has done at some time or another. However, when given access to video from ALL angles, it ' s obvious that the cone goes behind John ' s car and is never a factor. The assumption, I suppose, is that the cone blew out our tire -- but that just isn ' t the case. We ' re still analyzing all the data. For reasons we don ' t understand, the chassis pulled apart. Kenny did a great job of driving for which John has complimented him and thanked him in a variety of interviews this week. After hitting the cones, Kenny muscled his Dodge back into his own lane. It was the front half of our car that actually came across the centerline and punched out the Monster Dodge. After the impact, Kenny somehow managed to steer his car back off the wall and get it stopped.”
“I will also say those big roll pads we have near our head that were beefed up as a result of the safety improvements John Force Racing is researching, helped me a lot, “continued Bernstein. “When we suffered the impact of the hit, my head was moving side to side and I got a little headache, almost like it feels when you experience tire shake. It would have been a lot worse had we not had the roll pads.
“Our hearts go out to John and his family. They will remain in our thoughts, and we’ll be happy to see John when he’s able to come to the track. In the meanwhile we will certainly be in touch to monitor his progress.”
Follow the Monster Energy/Lucas Oil Funny Car team at Kenny Bernstein Racing. Please visit our sponsors at Monster Energy - Unleash the Beast, Lucas Oil, Initializing...., AlphaTrade.com - digital media and marketing company specializing in creating networking opportunities to build your brand, sell more products, increase your web traffic and gain more attention for your company (OTCBB:APTD) and AlphaTrade Finance - Free stock quotes, stock market news & personal finance.
KENNY BERNSTEIN WALKS AWAY FROM SPECTACULAR CRASH IN DALLAS
DALLAS (Sept. 23) – The most haunting, unforgettable moment from the O’Reilly Fall Nationals jammed cyberspace for hours as fans and friends searched for information surrounding the horrifying incident involving Kenny Bernstein and John Force.
Force, whose car was beginning to break apart, collided into Bernstein and the two legends crashed together before smacking the retaining wall. Bernstein was virtually unscathed in the accident, while Force was transported to a Dallas hospital with a broken left ankle, a severe abrasion on his right knee, as well as a dislocated left wrist. Force also sustained severe abrasions and slight fractures on a number of fingers on his right hand.
Prior to race day action, Bernstein qualified the Monster Energy/Lucas Oil Funny Car in the sixth position with a 4.840/314.31.
Bernstein won the opening round against Mike Ashley with a 4.888/312.35 while Ashley lost traction and spun the tires, crossing the finish line with a 6.002/161.48.
. “That was a great job by Jimmy (Walsh, crew chief) and the whole team. It always feels good to come back to Dallas to race. We have a lot of friends here, and several of the guys I raced for early in my career are with us at the track today.”
Perhaps the most anticipated match of the day was the second round pairing of Bernstein and Force. With 194 national events wins and 20 NHRA world championships between the two drivers, the crowd was anxious to see who would take bragging rights at the Texas Motorplex. Instead they saw a horrendous wreck in which both cars were collected and slammed against the retaining wall.
“When I left the starting line everything was normal,” said Bernstein. “About half track the car dropped a cylinder and moved toward the center line. I was fighting the wheel to stay off the center line. I remember right at the finish line thinking ‘I may have clipped that cone with the body or the rear tire.’ I knew I was real close. Either an instant before then or at that time, I reached up or was in the process of reaching up to release the (para)chutes and lifted my foot off the throttle right then.
“But at that instant, or just prior to that, I saw John’s car out of the corner of my left eye heading toward me. He wasn’t approaching at a 90-degree angle, but it was a pretty severe angle. I remember seeing the black front end of his car coming toward me and the next thing I knew we hit and then stuff just started flying everywhere. I couldn’t see then because the (race car) body had gotten knocked up in the air in front of me and my vision was obstructed. I didn’t remember going into the wall, but the evidence on the body and the headers show that. Now that I think back, I remember feeling a solid hit on the right side so it must have taken both of us right into the wall.
“My car was jumping around, I guess the best way to describe it, was like a frog. It wasn’t on all fours. It was on the front two tires, the side two, the back two, just everywhere. My first thought was that I was going to hit the wall again or turn over. I had to get on the brake and start driving.
“During the time I sustained the impact from the initial hit and then the wall contact, I had both hands on the wheel. I had released the brake to try to get the car back in shape. I did manage to get the car back under control. I started to coast and had the brakes on when out of my right eye I saw something go speeding by. In front of me, I saw the remains of the front half of John’s car. The engine and the chassis went by me on the right side and went all the way to the end of the track. I thought at that time, John was down there. I released the brake and let the car coast to try to get down to him to see if I could help. But when I got there, I realized he wasn’t there. That was just the front half of the car. When I turned around to look, I saw all the people gathered back down the track so I went back to the wreckage to see if John was okay.
“John suffered some broken bones and I know he’s going to have a tough recuperative period. Sheryl, Brandon and I went to the hospital to be with his family. Of all things, right after the helicopter left with John, two medics came back and said John sent them to tell me he was sorry. John is always thinking of others.”
“John feels terrible that there are some people that are blaming Kenny,” said Dave Densmore, Public Relations Director of John Force Racing. “Kenny hit a cone, which every driver has done at some time or another. However, when given access to video from ALL angles, it ' s obvious that the cone goes behind John ' s car and is never a factor. The assumption, I suppose, is that the cone blew out our tire -- but that just isn ' t the case. We ' re still analyzing all the data. For reasons we don ' t understand, the chassis pulled apart. Kenny did a great job of driving for which John has complimented him and thanked him in a variety of interviews this week. After hitting the cones, Kenny muscled his Dodge back into his own lane. It was the front half of our car that actually came across the centerline and punched out the Monster Dodge. After the impact, Kenny somehow managed to steer his car back off the wall and get it stopped.”
“I will also say those big roll pads we have near our head that were beefed up as a result of the safety improvements John Force Racing is researching, helped me a lot, “continued Bernstein. “When we suffered the impact of the hit, my head was moving side to side and I got a little headache, almost like it feels when you experience tire shake. It would have been a lot worse had we not had the roll pads.
“Our hearts go out to John and his family. They will remain in our thoughts, and we’ll be happy to see John when he’s able to come to the track. In the meanwhile we will certainly be in touch to monitor his progress.”
Follow the Monster Energy/Lucas Oil Funny Car team at Kenny Bernstein Racing. Please visit our sponsors at Monster Energy - Unleash the Beast, Lucas Oil, Initializing...., AlphaTrade.com - digital media and marketing company specializing in creating networking opportunities to build your brand, sell more products, increase your web traffic and gain more attention for your company (OTCBB:APTD) and AlphaTrade Finance - Free stock quotes, stock market news & personal finance.
