InnerView:

Kenny Bernstein

By Susan Wade. Photos by Jeff Burk.

To drag-racing fans, it was like yesterday when Kenny Bernstein broke the 300-mile-an-hour barrier. But that was 10 years ago. It really almost was yesterday when he set the NHRA's national Top Fuel performance records for both elapsed time (4.477 seconds) and speed (332.18). That happened in the 2001 season, when the Lake Forest, Calif., resident won a career-best eight events in 12 final-round appearances.

Bernstein's accomplishments are staggering. But so are some of the candid and comical comments he shared with DRO as he anticipated the start of the 2002 season and his farewell tour: "Forever Red, A Run To Remember."

He'll retire in November, handing the keys to the family dragster to son Brandon. But what does the driver of the Budweiser King have to say about his heir -- and the competition this year?

DRO offers a toast to Bernstein ("This Bud's for you," Kenny) and an InnerView to remember.

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