Everything Is Lighter Except Bernstein’s Foot

Drag racer Kenny Bernstein got rid of a lot of excess baggage during the off-season, both physical and emotional, and it paid off Thursday with a run of 304.25 mph in 4.768 seconds, best among top-fuel qualifiers for the 36th Winternationals at the Pomona Fairplex.

Crew chiefs Dale Armstrong and Ray Alley pared more than 100 pounds from the 5,000-horsepower dragster--18 of it from Bernstein himself--to get the car down to the minimum 2,025-pound limit, driver included.

“Putting the car on a diet gave it a lot more energy off the starting line,” Bernstein said. “But I think more important than that is the way I feel. For the first time in 10 years, all my energies are focused on drag racing.

“Since last Nov. 15, when I got rid of all my NASCAR equipment and sold my sports marketing company, I’ve been back to my first love, which is owning and driving a drag racing car. And seven of those years I had three different programs, when I had an Indy car as well as a Winston Cup team.”

Only once during the 19-event season last year did Bernstein have a better run than Thursday’s, a 4.764 at Topeka, Kan. Bernstein, 51, is a four-time funny-car champion but is still after his first top-fuel championship.

The Chief Auto Parts Winternationals record is 4.725 seconds by Larry Dixon last February.

Cruz Pedregon, defending funny-car champion from Camarillo, started out as if he wanted to repeat, running 5.064 at 290.22 mph in Joe Gibbs’ Pontiac Firebird, best among the funny cars. Five-time Winston champion John Force of Yorba Linda failed to qualify in his first try, smoking his tires as he apparently tried to overpower the track.

In his first start in a Firebird after winning the Winston championship in an Oldsmobile, Warren Johnson of Duluth, Ga., led pro stock qualifiers with a 7.063-second pass.

Dodge drivers Scott Geoffrion and Darrell Alderman, last year’s Winternationals champion, were expected to return to racing after an eight-month absence, but were surprisingly withdrawn by Mopar team manager Paul Kelly. Both had tested Avengers last weekend at Bakersfield, but team officials apparently felt the cars were not competitive.

The team has been sidelined since May 16, when vandals broke into its speed shop at Fairfield, Ill., and destroyed all six of the Dodge engines.

Time trials will continue today and Saturday to qualify 16-car fields for Sunday’s eliminations.