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Bill Stephens 19y

Bernstein harbors serious title hopes

In just two seasons on the NHRA POWERade circuit, Brandon Bernstein has already faced more obstacles than many professional racers see in a career.

After his whirlwind 2001 season in the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks -- winning the Division 7 Lucas Oil championship while his famous father Kenny was scoring the 2001 NHRA Top Fuel title -- Brandon's 2003 transition to the senior circuit and his father's former ride in the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster was going great; right up until his season-ending crash in Englishtown.

Eight races in to his pro career, and the young Bernstein had already experienced a devastating crash.

Last season, with his injured back healed and the 2003 Rookie of the Year award in hand, Brandon seemed primed for a strong run at the POWERade championship. His legendary tuner, Tim Richards, planned on giving Brandon a formidable combination, and 2004 appeared to offer the opportunity he had missed out on a year earlier.

Brandon sailed to victory in Phoenix, Houston, and Topeka and took the points lead from champion-to-be Tony Schumacher with that third win at Heartland Park. But then, several starting line miscues resulting in holeshot losses and redlights, plus a changing rules structure that had his tuning braintrust struggling to regain their consistency, all conspired to put the brakes on Brandon's title hopes, as he went winless for the remainder of the season and finished third in the POWERade points.

"We were glad to get a whole year of experience under our belt," says Brandon as the team prepares for the string of preseason test sessions beginning in a matter of weeks before the 2005 schedule gets underway in Pomona, Calif.

"That experience was a plus, especially for me, since I now have raced at every track on the tour. We only wish we could have had more success in the last half of the season.

"Everyone on this team gave it a great effort and we've all been busy over the winter working on new tuneups for the 2005 season. We're also debuting a new paint scheme on the racecar as well as the transporter and support vehicles so there's plenty to do before testing begins soon.

"I'm really anxious to get back into the car and put together the kind of season everyone on the team has always believed we're capable of. There are a lot of very good teams in the class and it may be the most competitive Top Fuel has been in a long time.

"We're out to win the championship and I think we're a stronger team than we've ever been before."

Bill Stephens covers NHRA for ESPN.com.

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