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ROCKINGHAM, NC. – Pete Berner is experiencing the other side of being a world champion. For him, winning a title is one thing. Defending it is another.
Berner, a mechanical engineer from Crete, Ill., hopes to grab his fourth career national event victory at the same venue that he solidified his first career title when the IHRA Knoll Gas Nitro Jam tour rolls into Rockingham Dragway for the IHRA Spring Nationals.
Berner currently ranks eighth in the Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro Stock point standings after a tougher-than-usual weekend in San Antonio. One frustration after another relegated Berner to a last-minute qualifying berth at the season-opener.
“Defending a championship is not easy, but neither is racing in general,” Berner said. “Sometimes you run into these kinds of problems. We had some issues with the motor in testing. Jon [Kaase] worked on the motor for five days and even seized it up on the dyno twice before he got this motor running to where it needed to be.
“We just didn’t have enough information on it and the weather we had made tuning a crapshoot. We were just trying to get our horsepower up to where it needed to be.”
Berner appears to have exorcised those demons with several test sessions and an inordinate amount of dyno pulls at Jon Kaase’s engine facility outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
“I’m glad we are headed to Rockingham,” Berner said. “Rockingham is the place you want to be at this time of the year. The Pro Stockers really love that track and we’re hoping our RJ Race Cars Pontiac falls in love.
“We have done more than our fair share of testing and I am confident that we’ll come out swinging on Friday.”
Berner has experience in Rockingham to draw on for this weekend’s event. He has to look no further than the most recently completed event where he won a three-way battle with Tony Gillig and Frank Gugliotta.
Berner erased a 31-point deficit to pass Gillig and fended off the championship aspirations of Gugliotta.
“That was a magical day for us,” Berner said. “I know we had a rough go of things in Texas but I expected it. Once you put that number one on the window … you can expect the tough stuff to happen. You just block it out and move forward. No one ever said the road to the championship didn’t have a pothole or two in it. Potholes build character.”
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DEFENSE PROVES A TOUGH PROPOSITION FOR BERNER
ROCKINGHAM, NC. – Pete Berner is experiencing the other side of being a world champion. For him, winning a title is one thing. Defending it is another.
Berner, a mechanical engineer from Crete, Ill., hopes to grab his fourth career national event victory at the same venue that he solidified his first career title when the IHRA Knoll Gas Nitro Jam tour rolls into Rockingham Dragway for the IHRA Spring Nationals.
Berner currently ranks eighth in the Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro Stock point standings after a tougher-than-usual weekend in San Antonio. One frustration after another relegated Berner to a last-minute qualifying berth at the season-opener.
“Defending a championship is not easy, but neither is racing in general,” Berner said. “Sometimes you run into these kinds of problems. We had some issues with the motor in testing. Jon [Kaase] worked on the motor for five days and even seized it up on the dyno twice before he got this motor running to where it needed to be.
“We just didn’t have enough information on it and the weather we had made tuning a crapshoot. We were just trying to get our horsepower up to where it needed to be.”
Berner appears to have exorcised those demons with several test sessions and an inordinate amount of dyno pulls at Jon Kaase’s engine facility outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
“I’m glad we are headed to Rockingham,” Berner said. “Rockingham is the place you want to be at this time of the year. The Pro Stockers really love that track and we’re hoping our RJ Race Cars Pontiac falls in love.
“We have done more than our fair share of testing and I am confident that we’ll come out swinging on Friday.”
Berner has experience in Rockingham to draw on for this weekend’s event. He has to look no further than the most recently completed event where he won a three-way battle with Tony Gillig and Frank Gugliotta.
Berner erased a 31-point deficit to pass Gillig and fended off the championship aspirations of Gugliotta.
“That was a magical day for us,” Berner said. “I know we had a rough go of things in Texas but I expected it. Once you put that number one on the window … you can expect the tough stuff to happen. You just block it out and move forward. No one ever said the road to the championship didn’t have a pothole or two in it. Potholes build character.”
