‘Young’ Bernstein Too Quick for Hill in Top Fuel Showdown
The reaction time off the starting line for 49-year-old Kenny Bernstein was a little quicker than that of 57-year-old Eddie Hill in Saturday’s final round of the Budweiser Classic at Pomona Raceway.
The difference of .044 seconds was all Bernstein needed to defeat Hill, the Winston Cup champion, in their $50,000 top fuel shootout.
“The car was consistent all day and that’s what you need to win races,” Bernstein said after blistering the quarter-mile in 4.836 seconds elapsed time to 4.891 for Hill. Their top speeds were nearly identical, Bernstein 293.82 and Hill 293.15
The final rounds of the Winston Finals are scheduled to start today at 10:30 a.m. on the fairgrounds strip.
Cory McClenathan of Anaheim, in the Mac Attack dragster, took the No. 1 qualifying position from Bernstein with a run of 4.794 seconds.
It was Bernstein’s second victory in the Budweiser Classic. He also won in 1991 after making the move from funny cars to top fuelers the previous year.
Two of drag racing’s biggest names will be missing from today’s eliminations. Pro stock driver Bob Glidden and Don Prudhomme both failed to qualify.
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