2001 Chicago
Kenny Bernstein has won two of the four spring events held at Route 66 Raceway, winning the supertrack's debut event in a weird final-round decision over Gary Scelzi in 1998 and scoring again last year in a more convincing and dominating fashion, again besting Scelzi in the final round.

Bernstein set the national e.t. record in qualifying with a 4.47 blast, a mark that still stands.

Bernstein's win at the 1998 event was his milestone 50th career victory and 20th in Top Fuel and came on the heels of five straight first-round losses and only after much confusion. In the final, a heavy wind was blowing downtrack, and, as Bernstein and Scelzi were both losing traction at half-track, trash blew through the lights and lit Scelzi's win light. At the top end, Bernstein, who knew that he had crossed the finish line first, watched in distress as TV crews went to interview Scelzi as the winner.

There was no doubt about who the winner was at last year's race; the Bud King dominated the show from qualifying on. After Tim Richards joined the Budweiser camp in April, the team had been almost unstoppable and had won the two previous events entering the Chicago contest. Richards' tuning prowess and Bernstein's driving skills, combined with a cool track, produced one of the most memorable performances in Top Fuel history. Bernstein grabbed the national e.t. record and swept the weekend by qualifying No. 1, setting low e.t. and top speed of the event, and winning.

Track conditions were at their peak for Saturday's qualifying sessions, and Bernstein took advantage. In the final session, Bernstein blasted to a 4.477 to take the No. 1 spot and set the national record. Bernstein's speed on that run was 330.88 — faster than Mike Dunn's national record at the time (330.55) — and would have been good for the national record if he had run 327.57 or better on Sunday, but his best was 324.83.

Bernstein reflects "I really got on a roll there heading into the summer, which was a good thing because Dixon came on strong later in the summer. I was proud of the Bud King team for setting the national record with that 4.47. I knew that it was a pretty decent run, but I didn't know that it was a .47 at 330. After you do this a few times, you have a pretty good idea of when they are good. It never quit pulling; it pulled the entire quarter-mile. "A lot of people didn't realize it at the time, but we made that run on the tires that we're all running now. We were testing them for Goodyear, and we just hit it right. I'm proud that the record is still there. "With those kinds of conditions, a lot of cars run very well because you can really get after the program. Every time you went up there, you had better have it together because it was going to be tough. You just try to do the best that you can, and we were fortunate to come out on top."

After grabbing the e.t. record, Bernstein powered past the field for his third straight and fourth overall victory of the season. Bernstein used a pair of 4.5-second runs and a 4.49 to advance to the money round, where he faced defending and three-time season champion Scelzi. Scelzi's Winston team had regained its championship form, rattling off 4.5-second passes in all but three runs during the weekend, including a 4.503 in the semi's against Larry Dixon, which gave Scelzi lane choice for the final. Dixon got off the line first, .468 to .493, but Scelzi powered around to win, 4.50 to 4.53, in the quickest side-by-side Top Fuel race in history.

Heading into the final, all races had been won in the left lane, and Scelzi looked to capitalize on that hot streak by taking the left lane, but it didn't help. Bernstein was strong in the final, however, and he racked up the only win of the day in the right lane with a 4.54 after Scelzi smoked the tires before half-track.

The win gave Bernstein an 80-point lead in the national standings over second-place Dixon.

The weekend was made even more special when Bernstein's son, Brandon, won the Federal-Mogul Dragster title earlier in the day. It was the second time in history — the first occurred at that year's Las Vegas event in April — that the father-son duo won at the same event.