LOOKING IN ON: MOTORSPORTS

Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.

Kenny Bernstein knew he might struggle at first in his return to the cockpit of his new Monster Energy Funny Car, but that didn't make it any easier when he failed to qualify at the season opener two weeks ago in Pomona.

And although he was happy to be back in a race car for the first time in three years, Bernstein made it clear he didn't return to racing just to go through the motions.

"Was it enjoyable? No," Bernstein said. "Not qualifying is not enjoyable and struggling for three or four days is not enjoyable. But it was enjoyable to be back out there with a true purpose other than just standing around as an owner and just watching."

As proof that he wasn't just paying lip service, Bernstein spent five days at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway testing his Dodge Charger Funny Car in an attempt to work out some of the problems that plagued the car in Pomona. The team arrived in Las Vegas last Thursday and did not leave until Monday - four days before the start of the season's second race, at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz.

Bernstein said he knew the possibility of struggling existed when he put together this program late last summer.

"Sure, we worried about that from the get-go," he said. "When you start a whole brand-new program, it's tough. We sure hated (not qualifying) but that's just the way it works. But no excuses - we just didn't get it done over there."

Bernstein, 62, has 69 career National Hot Rod Association victories (39 in Top Fuel and 30 in Funny Car) and six world championships (four in Funny Car and two in Top Fuel). Although he has nothing left to prove by coming out of retirement, he said he needed to for his own benefit.

"I enjoy going to the races now because I have something to look forward to , where the past three years I haven't enjoyed going," he said.

Bernstein retired from driving at the end of the 2002 season and turned over his famed Budweiser Top Fuel dragster to his son, Brandon. The elder Bernstein returned to the cockpit in 2003 when Brandon was injured in a racing accident; Kenny won four times and finished sixth in points despite competing in only 15 races.

Despite "retiring" on a positive - and winning - note, Bernstein said he isn't worried about tarnishing his legacy should his return to racing turn out to be unsuccessful.

"I don't really care about that," he said. "Whatever we've been able to accomplish through the years has been great and however it ends up is going to be great - I just wanted to drive again, that's all I wanted to do.

"I certainly want to be competitive and I certainly want to go out and try to win races and be in the hunt, but I'm not worried about what's happened in the past - good, bad or indifferent."

Helping hand

NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Kyle Busch will sponsor fellow Las Vegas native Alex Haase in the No. 66 Star Nursery-owned Super Late Model this season in races at both The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Irwindale Speedway in Southern California.

"Alex is an outstanding young driver and I'm proud to have him represent Kyle Busch Motorsports as our first sponsored driver," Busch said. "Super Late Model racing is a passion of mine, and I'm thankful to be in the position to help out someone as focused and driven as Alex."

Haase, 17, finished fourth in points while driving a Legends Car for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the 10-week Summer Shootout at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord in 2005.

"It was fairly uneventful other than the mud coming in."

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer on his last-lap accident in the Daytona 500 in which his car slid across the finish line on its roof before coming to rest in the infield grass.

Number of poles Las Vegas native Kurt Busch won last season (in two attempts) at California Speedway, site of Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Auto Club 500.