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QUICK END TO A STIFLING MEMPHIS WEEKEND MEMPHIS (Aug. 21) – NHRA race teams faced inordinately hot conditions and tricky tuning circumstances in Memphis at the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals with heat indexes exceeding 110 degrees each day. Brandon Bernstein drove the Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster to the No. 8 qualifying position with a 4.676/306.88. In the first round of Sunday’s eliminations, Bernstein squared off against his friend Morgan Lucas. “Morgan’s team is tough,” said Bernstein. “We both have to block out the fact that we’re friends and just focus on the task at hand. “When we started to smoke the tires, I looked over and saw Morgan was in trouble, too. I was on and off the throttle and drove the car through as hard as I could, but Morgan recovered before I could and got to the finish line first. We sacrificed an engine in the process, but it’s race day. We had to go for it.” Bernstein clocked 5.968/230.37 to Lucas’ 4.985/280.66. Bernstein dropped one position in POWERade Top Fuel point standings, to fifth, but is only sixteen points away from regaining fourth place. # # # |
BERNSTEIN HOPES TO FOLLOW ST. LOUIS AND SEATTLE VICTORIES WITH STRONG SHOWING IN SPONSOR AUTOZONE'S HOME BASE MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Six-time NHRA champion and Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster team owner Kenny Bernstein is well-known in motorsports circles not only as a successful competitor, but also as a very successful businessman. He is heralded as one of the first in the drag racing industry to make the transition from racing as a hobby to racing as a business. Twenty six years ago, Bernstein brought Budweiser to the sport as a major sponsor on his team, the longest current sponsor/team relationship in all of motorsports. This year Bernstein struck a sponsorship deal with Memphis-based AutoZone. "The AutoZone slogan is "get into the Zone"," said Kenny's son, Brandon, driver of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster. "In the racing business, we always talk about getting into the zone, which for us is an area of focus and concentration. Before we get into the racing zone, though, we'll be meeting fans and signing autographs at one of the AutoZone stores. "AutoZone, Budweiser, Lucas Oil, Mac Tools, all our sponsors, pride themselves on customer service and they go the extra mile for their customers," continued Bernstein. "Dad has built this team on the strength of his commitment back to his sponsors, and as we did in St. Louis for Budweiser, we'd love to grab a victory in Memphis for the AutoZone folks. "We seem to be on a sort of mid-season rally," said Bernstein. "We won St. Louis which was the halfway mark of the season, then qualified No. 1 at the next race in Denver, then won the next race in Seattle. Our team is riding some momentum and we hope it continues." Bernstein raced to the quarterfinals and set top speed at Memphis Motorsports Park last year, 320.51 mph. This will be Bernstein's second appearance at this track as driver of his father's Top Fuel dragster. "Tim (Richards, crew chief) tuned dad to a victory here in 2001, the year dad won his sixth NHRA POWERade world championship," continued Bernstein. "We're fortunate to be able to tap into Tim's knowledge of all these tracks." Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) qualifying for the Mid-South Nationals begins Friday, Aug. 19 at 5:30 p.m. with a second session at 8 p.m. There are two qualifying sessions Saturday, 4:30 and 7 p.m. with final eliminations Sunday scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Bernstein appearances in Memphis: Brandon Bernstein
will sign autographs at the AutoZone store located at 4394 Summer Ave.
Thursday, Aug. 18 from 1 - 4 p.m. At 6 p.m., he will be signing at Hooters,
250 Peabody Place. At 7 p.m., he will be meeting fans and signing autographs
at The Peabody Rooftop Party, 149 Union Ave., and at 10 p.m. MID-SOUTH NATIONALS TELEVISION ADVISORY |
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