Shifting Years

You can see a bit of Kenny Bernstein in his son’s face. Brandon Bernstein has his father’s laugh, his father’s twinkle, and now his father’s job.

Whether he has his father’s talent could be revealed this weekend at the NHRA Powerade Series’ season-opening event, the K&N; Filters Winternationals at Pomona Raceway.

The King of Speed’s progeny will be steering one of the most famous cars in professional motor sports. Can he possibly be ready?

Brandon Bernstein attended three days at Frank Hawley’s drag racing school, then spent the summer of 2001 racing a top alcohol dragster. That is the extent of his on-track experience.

Is it in his genes? He won five races and the Division 7 regional title in the NHRA’s feeder series two summers ago but hasn’t raced competitively since.

Brandon is 30 but boyishly excited about the rush of a top fuel dragster, the sport’s fastest machine. Nothing compares to going 300 mph, unless it’s going 322 mph during a test session in Phoenix. His 4.545-second pass on the quarter-mile was faster than defending champion Larry Dixon.

“It’s such a rush when the car starts up,” Brandon said, his face lighting up at the thought. “It’s amazing when the light goes yellow and you hit the throttle and it’s like a rocket ship. Then there’s this sigh of relief when the parachute comes out and you know you’re going to stop.”

Brandon has made only 22 test runs in the Budweiser/Lucas Oil top fuel car, so the questions are many. How wide will that sliver of pavement look with another car challenging him in the next lane? What happens when the tires shake and he must decide to drive through it or abort a run? What happens when those runs are made in front of more than 45,000 people and money is on the line?

The Budweiser marketing machine proclaims Brandon is “Ready to Run,” on its point-of-sale displays, but taking over the cockpit from father Kenny is a high-profile job with some serious expectations and pressure.

Less than 48 hours after making his debut pass this afternoon at the Fairplex, Brandon will be thrust into the No. 1 position for Saturday’s $100,000 Budweiser Shootout, which his father would be competing in had he not retired.

It is his sponsor’s event, in his sponsor’s car, with the drag racing world looking on.

Welcome to the show.

“I know I can do it,” Brandon said. “I feel in my heart I can drive that race car and be competitive.”

And Anna Nicole Smith thinks she can act, but there’s no pressure on her to win an Academy Award.

“My expectation is to be in the thick of the championship,” said Kenny, a six-time NHRA champion. “Can we win? If everything falls into place. We have to be good mechanically and he would have to do his job. I look for him to be competitive, win races and challenge for the championship.”

Like father like son might just apply.

“I want to win the championship,” Brandon said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Defending champion Dixon, who drives the rival Miller Lite car for legendary NHRA driver-turned-owner Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, believes Brandon will be competitive from the first qualifying pass.

At 145 pounds, Brandon is 15 pounds lighter than Dixon; Kenny was 15 pounds heavier. “That’s 30 pounds,” Dixon said. “Crew chiefs do back flips to get three pounds out of a car, let alone 30.”

And that, Dixon said, could make up for some of Brandon’s inexperience as he unleashes 6,500 horsepower down the straightaway.

Just as Dixon had Prudhomme teaching him the ropes, Brandon has a pretty good teacher, too.

“I grew up drag racing from the time I was 17 years old, whether it was a Studebaker or 421 Pontiac or whatever,” said Kenny, who forged the beginnings of his career by selling lingerie door-to-door to fund his passion for racing.

“Brandon never did any of that. When I saw how well he performed in [an alcohol dragster] and so far in Top Fuel -- regardless of him being my son -- I’ve been pretty impressed.

“I had a lot of experience and knowledge, but he’s done awfully well with limited experience. We’ll have our ups and downs, that’s the nature of the beast. We had those with me driving.”

Last season, while his father embarked on the “Forever Red” farewell tour, Brandon focused on learning everything he could about the team and the car. He absorbed his father’s deft handling of the media and fans, plus he developed good chemistry with crew chief Tim Richards in front of a bank of computers while learning “why the car did what it did.”

“He’s doing quite well,” Richards said. “I’m pretty surprised, actually. It seems like he’s pretty smooth already. But when he starts racing people, that’s another matter from taking the car from one end to the other. [Gamesmanship that] people wouldn’t do to Kenny, they’ll try with him.”

This is definitely a new era. The car is now red and black, the team is sporting hipper uniforms, and Budweiser is aiming for a younger, more contemporary look.

Not coincidentally, Brandon frosted his hair blond.

So here he is, living a dream under a spotlight and a microscope. “I haven’t let that pressure enter my mind,” he said. “If I go out and do my job, we should be right there. I don’t have anything that I’m apprehensive about.”

So he has his father’s confidence, too.

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Drag Racing

* What: 43rd annual K&N; Filters Winternationals, at Pomona Raceway, the first of 23 events on the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series. It includes the $100,000 Budweiser Shootout for top fuel dragsters on Saturday, an event postponed last November by rain.

* 2002 winners: Larry Dixon defeated Kenny Bernstein for the top fuel title and went on to win the series championship; John Force defeated Del Worsham in funny cars en route to a 12th series championship; George Marnell won the pro stock title.

* Schedule: Gates open at 7 a.m. today and Friday, qualifying and Sportsman eliminations 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Professional qualifying at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sportsman eliminations and qualifying, 8:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. Professional qualifying at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Budweiser Shootout rounds at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m., final eliminations at 11 a.m.

* TV: Saturday qualifying highlights, ESPN2, 7 p.m. Sunday race, ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.

* Tickets: General admission for children 6-12, $10 through Saturday, $12 on Sunday; adults $18 today, $25 Friday, $45 Saturday, $50 Sunday. Reserved seating for children 6-12, $20 on Friday, $22 Saturday, $24 Sunday; children 5 and under, $10 on Friday, $12 Saturday, $14 Sunday; adults, $35 on Friday, $55 Saturday, $62 Sunday. Available on site, at Ticketmaster or through www.nhra.com.