THOUGH TOP FUEL CHAMPIONSHIP HOPES HAVE DIMMED,

BERNSTEIN STILL HAS FIGHT ON HIS HANDS

POMONA , Calif. Though Brandon Bernstein concedes that his dreams of obtaining his first NHRA POWERade championship are very remote, he and his Budweiser/Lucas Oil team will still be battling for second place in point standings at the Automobile Club of Southern California Finals Nov. 9-12.

Bernstein comes into the final race of the season 100 points behind the Top Fuel leader, and 55 points out of second place.

“It would appear that barring something really strange happening, we will finish in the top three,” reflected Bernstein. “We’ve won four events and finished runner-up three times so we definitely celebrated success this season. What hurt us were the first three races of the season when we suffered very weird mechanical problems and the West Coast Swing where despite strong performance in qualifying, we didn’t do well on race day. But then we won Brainerd , Minn. , we were runner-up in Indy, and by the time we won in Dallas we had emerged as a player. That was really exciting! I wish we had been able to gain a few more points after Dallas to stay in the bunkers for the championship battle, but we can still fight for second.

“We had our opportunities,” said Bernstein. “We capitalized on some of them. One thing I know for sure is that the fans got to see some great racing this season.

“And I want to thank Tim (Richards, crew chief), Kim (Richards) and the team for all their hard work this year. It’s hard to complain about a top three finish, four wins and three runner-ups. But Tim will be working through the winter to find a way to gain more ground for next season.”

The Budweiser/Lucas Oil team captured victories in Houston, Columbus , Ohio , Brainerd and Dallas. They were runner-up at Topeka , St. Louis , and Indianapolis .

After the Dallas victory, the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team had reeled in the leader and only a 40-point spread (two rounds) separated them.

Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) qualifying begins Thursday, Nov. 9 at 2:30 p.m. , followed by a second session Friday at 2:30 p.m. There are two qualifying sessions Saturday, noon and 3:30 p.m. , with final eliminations scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday.