BERNSTEIN OPTIMISTIC AFTER FIRST NHRA TEST SESSION

LAS VEGAS (Jan. 24) – Brandon Bernstein drove the Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster to the second quickest elapsed time (4.510 seconds at 326.08 mph) during the NHRA Nitro Blast-off Jan. 20-23 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“We’re enthusiastic about our performance at the first test session in Vegas,” said Bernstein.

“Tim (Richards, crew chief), Kim (Richards) and the team were working toward the end of last season and during our short off-season on some areas that would improve our elapsed times and hopefully, our consistency.

“This year our sport has a new Goodyear tire that will pose a learning curve for all teams, probably at every track this year. The crew chiefs will have to figure out a combination for each track and each different type of weather condition that presents itself along the way.

“Bottom line: we’re showing improvement and we want to keep going that direction,” concluded Bernstein.

The Budweiser/Lucas Oil team will travel to Phoenix Jan. 27 to begin the next phase of testing at the National Time Trials Test & Tune at Firebird International Raceway.

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