Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Bernsteins bringing father-son show to town

Friday, March 30, 2001 | 10:42 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Kenny Bernstein is hoping to turn next weekend's SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals into a family affair.

Bernstein, who won the Top Fuel category at last year's inaugural event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to snap a 23-race winless streak, would like nothing more than to have two Bernsteins celebrating wins next week in Las Vegas.

Brandon Bernstein, 28, also will be competing at The Strip in the Division 7 Federal-Mogul Series. Actually, the younger Bernstein will be competing for two titles as last month's rain-delayed Top Alcohol Dragster final from Tucson will be completed on Saturday, April 7 in Las Vegas.

"The Tucson race was rained out and Brandon's in the finals and he'll make that run in Vegas for a win and then of course he'll have the chance to win the Vegas race, too," Kenny Bernstein said.

"We could have a triple there; we could have two wins by him and one by us -- that would be a wonderful weekend. I wonder what the odds in Vegas would be on that?"

The elder Bernstein said he likes his odds to repeat as champion in Las Vegas.

"Last weekend (in Houston), we had our best weekend in many years," Bernstein said. "We made five runs all in the low 4.60s ... we were just really consistent.

"The last 10 runs we've made we've gone down the track eight times and we've averaged about a 4.62 or 4.63. That's a good starting point but we want to be a little quicker than that. With (new crew chief) Tim Richards aboard, I'm real excited about it and I feel real good about this race team again. I think we'll be very competitive in Vegas and I think we can win there if we get everything together."

For local fans of drag racing, this could be the final year to watch Bernstein launch his familiar Bud King Dragster down the quarter mile. Bernstein has said he will retire from racing either at the end of this season or next and turn the reins of his dragster over to Brandon.

"We haven't made a final decision; we'll see how it looks as this year progresses but there will be no more than one more year at the most," Bernstein said. "I enjoy driving the racecar and competing -- I really enjoy it when we're competitive and I feel now, with the crew chief change we made in the last couple of weeks that we've got a chance to get back in the game again. When that happens, you get a little pumped up.

"It's not going to be easy to walk away but at the same time I've got my son coming in. He's running a Federal-Mogul car so we're getting him primed and ready to go for either next year or the year after."

"We feel Ben's experience with Roush Racing and in Winston Cup racing generally will help advance Kurt and the whole team," team owner Jack Roush said. "Ben has been with our organization for many years and will be able to provide the knowledge of our Winston Cup program to teach the many young and talented members of this team."

Leslie gained his experience at Roush Racing by working with several of its teams and drivers, including Mark Martin and most recently as car chief for 2000 Rookie of the Year Matt Kenseth.

Following the announcement last summer that the 1.5-mile speedway would host its first CART race, some CART drives publicly complained that the high speeds the Champ Cars would reach there would be unsafe.

"The drivers need to learn something," Gossage told the Alexandria (La.) Town Talk. "You need to say things to get people to come to the track."

"I feel like I have some unfinished business at this place," Andretti said of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "In my last race at Indy I went out while leading the race and I have been eager to get back to the Speedway and replace my last memory of the Brickyard."

Andretti, who never has won the Indy 500, has led 382 laps in the 500 -- more than any driver who has not visited Indy's Victory Lane.

The final round in Federal-Mogul Dragster (Top Alcohol Dragster), and the semifinals and final round in Federal-Mogul Funny Car (Top Alcohol Funny Car) will be held at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 7. Las Vegas' Duane Shields will face Brandon Bernstein in the Federal-Mogul Dragster finale.

Three drivers remain in the Federal-Mogul Funny Car division: John Weaver, Doug Gordon and Steve Gasparelli. Weaver will race Gordon, and Gasparelli will make a bye run in the semifinals. The winner of the Weaver-Gordon match will face Gasparelli in the finals.

Brian Collins of Las Vegas, who has a win and a second place in two starts, leads the featured Trophy Truck class while two other local residents, Steve Olliges (Protruck/SS/Truck) and Jimmy Stephensen (ATV Class 25), also lead their classes in points.

The Baja 500, round 3 of the five-race SCORE Desert Series, will be held June 1-3.