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II

Bernstein was like so many other drag racers, learning the thrills of speed in the streets. He went to Monterey High School in Lubbock, Texas (he actually was born in Clovis, New Mexico) and was a year behind or ahead (can't remember which) of former three-time NHRA Funny Car champ Raymond "Blue Max" Beadle. He ran a '58 Chevy and after five or six years of working in the Lubbock area, he got hooked on the drags and found a job as a tire-wiper and "go-fer" for then Texas Top Fuel heavyweight Vance Hunt.

During the weekends with Hunt, Bernstein told him that he wouldn't mind hammering the throttle on the team Top Fueler. It so happened that Hunt was racing at Green Valley Race City in Smithfield, Texas, and got eliminated early. His team went about putting the downtime at the track to good use by servicing the car for the next weekend's racing. As Bernstein told it, it was these circumstances that led to his first ride in a Top Fueler.

I'm paraphrasing here, but I did an extensive interview with Bernstein in 1985 and he remembered quite vividly that first ride. "I told Vance I wanted to try a shot in the car," he said approximately. "Back then, licensing procedures were a lot looser and he figured why not. They got me all buttoned up and put in the car. I remember as they pushed me to the starting line and firing the car, the nitro was overwhelming. It made my eyes water and made it very difficult to breathe. As I edged to the starting line, all I could see was Vance's black cowboy hat, so I just sort of put the car where he was, tried to see the light go green and hit the throttle. I stomped on it and was blinded by the white smoke and shaken by the power. I thought I'd gotten to half track and for just a moment felt I did okay. When my vision cleared I realized I had barely gotten past the Xmas Tree. Oh well ..."

This was the last time that both Kenny Bernstein and Don Prudhomme drove fuel floppers. It was 1989 and "King" Kenny was the defending NHRA Winston World Champion. In fact, he had won the previous three years. Bruce Larson would break his string, but Kenny had already declared that he was moving to Top Fuel by then and he left the class with class. (Jeff Burk photo)

III

Despite his rather tepid debut at the wheel of a Top Fueler, Bernstein got hooked on racing and Top Fuel dragsters. He couldn't have picked a better time. In the Texas-Oklahoma-Louisiana area, there were probably 50-75 decent running Top Fuel dragsters and two circuits, the Texas Top Fuel Caravan and the bigger U.S. Fuel circuit, that race from the beginning of March through the early Fall. Bernstein's debut had occurred in late 1966, and he went racing the following year, putting in time the next two seasons with his Ace Muffler dragster and some seat time with the vaunted Division 4 Hall of Famers Curt and "Bones" Carroll.

The 1969 season was the year I felt he made his mark. This was the season he hooked up with Cunningham, but before he did that he took some rides at the beginning of the year with the Carrolls. As luck would have it, Bernstein's 1969 season began with a two out of three match at Green Valley with his old employer Vance Hunt and his driver Watus Simpson. Bernstein won the first heat, but lost the next two, still clocking a decent 7.28, 204.54 in rather chilly climes.

Bernstein drove for the Carrolls until late April when San Antonio driver Buddy Cortines resumed driving the car. Cortines was no slouch, having way more experience than Bernstein and, to be frank, a lot more wins. In October of 1968, Cortines drove the Carroll dragster to a final-round win over the dreaded Beebe & Mulligan/"Fighting Irish" dragster at the AHRA World Championships at Green Valley, clocking a great 6.94/218.44 in the process. For Bernstein, it was sort of like St. Louis Ram back-up Marc Bulger being replaced by a returning Kurt Warner.

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