Bernstein Bounces Back Quickly From Injury

By SHAV GLICK

April 23, 2004 12 AM PT

A year ago, Brandon Bernstein was a rookie on the rise, the hottest driver in drag racing. A second-generation driver with very little experience, Bernstein had won at Bristol, Tenn., becoming the National Hot Rod Assn.’s leader in top fuel.

This year, Bernstein is the NHRA’s comeback driver of the year, winner of two of five national events after missing the final 15 races last year. And next week he will be back in Bristol.

In between, the son of six-time NHRA champion Kenny Bernstein was hospitalized and spent more than four months in a back brace after a first-round crash at Englishtown, N.J., in May. He did not get back into his Budweiser/Lucas Oil top-fuel dragster until February, just before the season-opening Winternationals.

“Dad told me it would be weird, getting in the car for the first time, and he was right,” said Brandon, 31. “Once I got buckled in, it all came back real fast. As soon as the motor started up, like wow, it felt like I was home again. I did the burnout, the staging, the same starting-line procedures and within two or three runs I was back feeling natural.”

And running fast. Before he was through practice at Firebird Raceway, near Phoenix, he was clicking off quarter-mile runs from a standing start in the mid-five second range and hitting 320 mph to 325 mph.

In the first national event, at Pomona, he reached the semifinals before losing to eventual winner Tony Schumacher, and in the second, at Phoenix, he was back in the winner’s circle. Another win, last Sunday in Houston, made him two for five this year, and only 38 points behind Schumacher, who has won the three races that Bernstein didn’t.

“Winning in Texas was something special,” Brandon said. “I grew up in Dallas and went to college at Texas A&M; and all my family -- my mom, my grandfather who is over 80 and fighting cancer; my stepfather Jerry and a bunch of buddies from A&M; were there. It was the first time my mom had ever seen me win. She’d been to quite a few races, but I’d never won.”

Young Bernstein was raised by his mother, Donna Easom, but, from high school on, spent summers with his father, traveling the drag racing circuit. He played soccer in high school, then later in college, and showed no interest in driving until he was in his teens.

“One day when I was in high school, I told my dad I wanted to go racing, and he said, ‘You’re going to college first,’ so I went to A&M;, but I never lost my desire to race. After I graduated in 1996, I worked full-time on the race car. I never drove, but I made about 1,000 runs in my head, every time dad made a run.”

Bernstein got a degree in kinesiology, the study of muscles and their movements.

“Knowing about muscle structure helped me tremendously in recovering from that accident last year,” he said. “I knew what areas needed rehab, I knew what my body was telling me. I feel I am stronger now than I was before the crash.”

Bernstein has an unusual record. Whenever he has reached the finals in a national event, he has been the winner, which makes him five for 13 over two seasons.

“I guess getting there is the tough part,” he said. “One thing I found when I got back, and that was the competition is a whole lot tougher this year. Last year it was just me and [Larry] Dixon and then just my dad and Dixon.

“This year, it’s more than just the beer wars [Bernstein’s Budweiser car against Dixon’s Miller machine]. It’s not only Dixon and myself but the three Kalitta cars, Schumacher, Darrell Russell, Cory Mac [McClenathan]. On any given day, there are six or seven cars that could win. Every round is crucial.”

Brandon, who had only one year’s experience in top-alcohol dragsters before stepping into a nitro-fueled dragster last year, was replacing a legend when his father turned the controls over to him. Kenny’s championships, two in top fuel and four in funny car, were complemented by 59 individual wins, second only to John Force in nitro-fuel events.

When Brandon was injured, his father stepped back into the car and won four of the last five events of the season. Then he stepped aside for the second time.

“Dad is much more comfortable with his role running the team than he was last year,” Brandon said. “I think the crash was sort of a blessing in disguise for my dad. He had been really twitchy at the start of last season. He kept thinking maybe he shouldn’t have quit. The crash gave him a chance to get back into it. It was just the tonic he needed at the time, so when he quit this time, he was relaxed and at peace with having finished driving.

“He is still as active as ever, just not driving. He manages the team, talks with me before and after every run, talking strategy and car maintenance. He really puts himself into it.”

Next week the Bernsteins, who maintain a shop and live in Lake Forest when not traveling, will be in Bristol, the scene of their most successful weekend last year, for the Thunder Valley Nationals. Last year Brandon was the No. 1 qualifier, set track records for elapsed time, 4.530 seconds, and top speed, 328.38 mph, won the event and took the points lead.

“Any time you can have a clean sweep at a track, it’s a good feeling,” he said. “We’re excited about going back to Bristol and for a good reason. That track has been good to us.

“We need to gain some ground on Schumacher. It’s still a long season, but we need every point we can get. Like I said, each round is a challenge.”

Nextel Auto Club 500

The countdown to next week’s NASCAR weekend at California Speedway will start Sunday in downtown Los Angeles, at 5th and Broadway. The Fiesta Broadway party will feature Spanish-speaking NASCAR drivers, Nextel Mini Experience simulator rides inside a stock car and racing show cars.

Jose Luis Ramirez and Jesus Hernandez, drivers from NASCAR’s regional series, will be on hand to visit with Latino racing fans from 1 to 6 p.m. The Nextel Pavilion will open at 10 a.m.

Tickets will be available for the Busch series race on May 1 and the Nextel Auto Club 500 on May 2.

Last Laps

Former motorcycle and sprint car champion Eddie Wirth will be honored Sunday during festivities surrounding the annual BSA Owners Club All-British motorcycle road ride at Hansen Dam Park. The ride will start at 10:15 a.m., the Wirth ceremony at 2 p.m. Details: 661-273-7005.... California Speedway President Bill Miller has been named one of Southern California’s 25 most influential sports executives by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Perris Auto Speedway will offer a U.S. Auto Club doubleheader Saturday night with USAC/CRA sprint cars sharing billing with western regional midgets. Mike Kirby, the 1993 CRA champion now driving for Glen Crossno, will be seeking his third straight sprint car victory at Perris.

The Sprint Car Racing Assn. debut at Barona Speedway in San Diego County was rained out last week, delaying the opening of the newly rebuilt oval until May 1. The SCRA will run Saturday night at Thunderbird Raceway in Tulare.

Three NASCAR weekly series divisions at Irwindale Speedway that were rained out last week -- super late model, Grand American modified and mini stock -- will be running Saturday night with late model stocks and super trucks.

One of the most popular classes at Ventura Raceway is for sprint cars driven by senior drivers, all over 45. They will be running Saturday with regular VRA sprinters and two modified series, IMCA and VRA..

Passings

Jack Hateley, who tuned championship Triumph motorcycles for his son John and Eddie Mulder through the 1960s and ‘70s, died April 5 in Palm Springs of emphysema. He was 75. Survivors include his wife Janene, sons Mike, John and Mark, daughter Linda and six grandchildren.

This Week

NASCAR

Aaron’s 499

* When: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1 p.m.); Sunday, race (Channel 11, 10 a.m.).

* Where: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (tri-oval, 2.66 miles, 33 degrees banking in turns).

* Race distance: 500 miles, 188 laps

* 2003 winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

* Next race: Auto Club 500, May 2, Fontana.

BUSCH SERIES

Aaron’s 312

* When: Saturday, race (Channel 11, 11 a.m.).

* Where: Talladega Superspeedway.