Championship Drag Racing

O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
St. Louis, Mo.
(May 2-4)

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Brandon Bernstein MAV TV/Lucas Oil dragster

Madison, pre-race:  Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser brand has sponsored Kenny Bernstein’s NHRA drag racing team for 29 years, the longest current team/sponsorship association in all of auto sports.

It’s no wonder that Brandon Bernstein, driver of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster is excited about the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals May 2-4 at Gateway International Raceway.

“When we come to St. Louis, our friends at Budweiser roll out the red carpet for us,” said the second generation driver.  “It’s as if St. Louis is our second home and all the executives at Budweiser that work with us are our extended family.

“Dad actually sold Budweiser on sponsoring his race team during a rainout at Baton Rouge in 1979,” explained Bernstein.

“The race rained out on Sunday, he went to St. Louis and met with Budweiser and sold the sponsorship, and then went back to Baton Rouge on Wednesday night and beat John Force in the Funny Car final. 

“So they’ve been ‘family’ for 29 years.  We couldn’t ask for a more supportive sponsor.  They are the best!”

Brandon and Kenny have both had their turn in victory circle at Gateway.  Six-time champion Kenny drove the Budweiser dragster to four final round appearances in seven years of competition at the track, winning in 2002, the year of his “Forever Red” tour.

Brandon has four years of Gateway competition in the record books, with two final round appearances in the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster.  He won in 2006 and dedicated the victory to his grandfather, Bert Bernstein, who succumbed to cancer just two months later.  It was Bert’s last trip to a race track to watch his grandson compete.

So far this season, Brandon has logged a runner-up finish at Gainesville, Fla.

“We have a car capable of winning,” said Bernstein.  “We were disappointed a couple of times because we’ve had some random mechanical failures that have stopped us when we should have been going rounds.  There’s a lot of pressure on these parts and pieces.

“We’re fortunate to have veteran tuner Tim Richards, who we call “The General”, leading the charge for our team.  Just to underscore his success, Dad hired him in 2001 and since that time we’ve won 33 races.  That’s quite a resume.

“We like our odds going into St. Louis and we’re looking forward to going rounds.”

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