Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Beard set to make debut with Fuller’s NHRA team

Thursday, July 28, 2005 | 9:27 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.

After a month layoff during which he missed two NHRA national events, Las Vegas resident Rod Fuller is eager to get back in the cockpit of his David Powers Motorsports Top Fuel dragster this weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

"This is going to be a big deal for us," Fuller said of the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals. "We haven't raced since the Sears Craftsman Nationals at the end of June, and adding even more pressure for us is the fact that this race will be the first time we've competed with our new crew chief, Lee Beard."

Beard joined the David Powers-owned team earlier this month after spending the past five seasons tuning Whit Bazemore's Funny Car at Don Schumacher Racing. This weekend's event will mark Beard's first with a Top Fuel team in five years.

Like Fuller, Beard said he is looking forward to getting on the track with his new team.

"This team has all the ingredients to get to the top," Beard said. "David has put together a good group of hard-working guys, and 'Hot Rod' (Fuller) is driving like a seasoned veteran, not someone who's really in the middle of what amounts to his first real season in Top Fuel.

"I haven't handled a Top Fuel car in a few years, but the basic setup remains the same between a dragster and a Funny Car. The key for us is going to be in making all the right calls from qualifying through eliminations. I expect the weather to be hot at Sonoma, and I love hot-weather tracks."

Despite running a partial schedule this season, Fuller has advanced to two final rounds and is 13th in the NHRA Top Fuel standings with the first-year team.

"Right from the outset, David had determined that we wouldn't run the full schedule this year but we've done pretty well for ourselves," Fuller said. "Everyone on the team believes that the addition of Beard to the operation is a very positive move.

"I read Lee's bio and I know he's won 52 national events as a crew chief and I'm hoping that we can score number 53 for him -- and number 1 for David and I -- at Sonoma. That would really be something, wouldn't it?"

Nitro qualifying begins Friday at the 18th annual Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals in Sonoma.

BERNSTEIN RETURNING?: Kenny Bernstein told NHRA.com that he is considering returning as a driver in the NHRA Top Fuel ranks next season.

Bernstein, 60, stressed that a deal is not done but the proposed car would be owned by Las Vegas businessman Ken Black and run out of Kalitta Motorsports. Black owns the Pro Stock cars driven by Greg Anderson and Jason Line.

Bernstein, who has 69 career national-event victories in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, retired from driving the Budweiser dragster following the 2002 season and turned the driving duties over to his son, Brandon. Kenny Bernstein returned to the car for 15 races in 2003 after the younger Bernstein injured his back in a racing accident.

'PROFESSOR' HONORED: Warren Johnson, the six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion, will be inducted into Infineon Raceway's Wall of Fame prior to Sunday's final eliminations.

Johnson will be only the third driver to receive the track honor and the first drag racer so honored. NASCAR stars Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin were the first drivers placed on the Wall of Fame last month.

LOOKING TO REPEAT: Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Bike) are the defending champions of the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals.