Bernstein a Master at Mixing Racing, Business

Kenny Bernstein is one of the top drag racers in the world and manages a motorsports empire that includes a full-time NASCAR team and an effort in Indy cars.

But ask the 44-year-old Bernstein for a job description and the answer is bound to be a bit surprising for a driver who has won the National Hot Rod Assn. Funny Car championship 3 years running.

“We’re there to sell beer,” Bernstein said. “We’re there to sell oil and tools and cars and everything else.”

In an age when nearly every racing event has a sponsor and companies seemingly trip over each other trying to affix their names and logos to cars and drivers, Bernstein is one of the top salesmen in the business.

He was one of the first in motorsports to recognize the importance of lining up and keeping sponsors. When he formed his King Entertainment Inc. in 1979, Bernstein knew he would need big bucks behind him if he was to hire the people and buy the parts necessary to be a winner.

He hooked up with Budweiser and became the first drag racer sponsored by a beer company. But that was just the beginning.

Bernstein has worked and hustled his way to numerous corporate deals, all designed to allow sponsors to achieve maximum exposure and sales, while at the same time giving him the money he needs to go racing.

Here is list of some of Bernstein’s sponsors in drag racing, stock cars, and Indy cars: Budweiser, Quaker State, Buick, Mac Tools, KangaROOS shoes, LaPaz party mixes, Autolite, Cragar wheels, Moroso, Sig Erson cams, and Cyclone headers. The list is a long one, and growing longer. Just last week he announced Planters Peanuts has been added to the stable.

While most drivers speak of gear ratios, tire stagger, and chassis setups, Bernstein discusses what he calls the “marketing-merchandising challenge.”

“What I really mean by that is not so much bringing them into a sport and plugging them, but working out programs with them that get them coverage for the companies and the race team,” Bernstein said. “If we can help them sell their products, and that shows the bottom line going up, that accomplishes the bottom line we set out to accomplish.

“I don’t know if I was the first (to go heavy into sponsors), there were a lot of smart people in motorsports. My timing happened to be pretty lucky probably in that when I got with Budweiser in 1980 it was sort of a new era in motorsports in general. The recognition was starting to come its way through the media and television.”

In 1988, any successful driver has a boatload of sponsors and deals. What sets Bernstein apart is his ability to work with the companies as well as with the print and electronic media.

“There was no doubt in my mind that for me to enjoy what I enjoyed doing and have a chance to be successful at it all, I’d have to have outside money,” he said.

Bernstein is starting to have success away from drag racing. His Quaker State stock car racing team, featuring driver Ricky Rudd, won one race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., this year, and is one of the more improved teams in the second half of the NASCAR season.

His Indy car effort, which he said may eventually be expanded from its current one-race only deal to a full-season affair, also did well. The only race Bernstein entered was the Indianapolis 500, and driver Jim Crawford was the only non-Roger Penske owned car to lead the race.

For Bernstein, the bottom line in motorsports is money.

“If you don’t have the money and you can’t hire the best personnel, you’re not going to have a chance. Those two really go hand in hand. If you have that opportunity, to have the sponsorship and the investor intends to do what’s necessary, then your chances are very good that you’re going to be successful.

“It takes very talented people to be successful and talented people cost money.”