Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Bernstein hopes son follows in his footsteps

Thursday, Nov. 7, 2002 | 9:57 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Kenny Bernstein did not win the NHRA Top Fuel championship in his final year as a driver but he expects to win it in his first season as strictly a team owner.

Bernstein, who will retire as driver of the Budweiser King dragster after Sunday's NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., said he is confident his son Brandon can win the Top Fuel title when he takes over in the cockpit next season.

"The goal is to win the championship and it certainly is not out of the question from a rookie driver -- it has been done before," Bernstein said. "The team is extremely good, Tim Richards is a great crew chief -- and that's the first thing you have to have, the mechanical side being as good as it can be.

"Certainly, that's in place. Now it's up to Brandon to do the job in the cockpit and he's capable of doing that."

Bernstein won eight races and the championship last year and has four wins this season in the car, giving him reason to expect big things next year from his 30-year-old son.

"It's a good-running racecar; it's a car that can win out there and he knows that so it will make his job even easier for whatever that's worth," Bernstein said. "He's stepping into a situation that is extremely positive. (The car) has the ability to win every time it goes out there and he just needs to do his job."

That said, Bernstein insisted that he isn't worried about his son being overwhelmed by lofty expectations.

"I've already told him that what has been there before doesn't mean anything at this stage," said Bernstein, who has 35 wins in the dragster since 1990. "This is a new game. I'm into a total ownership role now, not an owner/driver combination. I'm here to continue to run this team the best that we can, to be the best we can, and to help (him) compete at this level.

"All we have to worry about right now is getting him to the level to be able to win -- which I think he's there -- but obviously experience and knowledge will play an important part over the next few months. We'll be able to speed his experience and knowledge up tremendously because of the experience and knowledge (I) have in the cockpit. I think we'll be able to cut his learning curve down tremendously."

Veteran team owner and driver Allen Johnson and three-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Darrell Alderman will pair in one factory-backed operation while Larry Morgan and Gene Wilson will join forces in the second factory team.