2001 NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals
When you are undefeated in an event's history, one could argue that each victory were part of something truly memorable, but Kenny Bernstein's second straight victory at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the second annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals would have ranked high on the Bud King's list no matter his previous history at the event.

Bernstein and his son, Brandon, who will take over the controls of the Budweiser King dragster in 2003, became the first father-son tandem to collect eliminator victories at the same event. In retrospect, the win was also memorable because it marked a significant turnabout for Bernstein, who had struggled for the last year. Hiring Tim Richards as crew chief righted the good ship Bud, and Bernstein began his pursuit of what would ultimately become his sixth NHRA national championship.

Kenny scored his first win in exactly a year when he defeated Andrew Cowin in the Top Fuel final (right).

Bernstein won for the first time since his victory at the inaugural Las Vegas event the year before and became Top Fuel's sixth different winner in the last six events. He dominated with seven consecutive runs in the 4.5-second range, including an out-of-the-box 4.522 to land the top qualifying position. Bernstein left nothing on the table as he also garnered low e.t. and top speed, the first time since 1989 that he had accomplished that feat and won the race. The King of Speed also posted six speeds in excess of 322 mph.

Bernstein opened eliminations with a 4.56 against a tire-smoking Bob Passey and got progressively quicker. He ran a 4.546 against Larry Dixon's up-in-smoke 6.40 in round two, and his 4.544 in the semifinals was enough to get past points leader Mike Dunn, who ran a 4.62. Bernstein then capped his weekend by running a 4.53 to beat Andrew Cowin's game 4.61 in the final.

The Professional finals were run ahead of Sportsman racing due to television considerations. With the Top Fuel title already in hand, Bernstein watched Brandon defeat Mark Hentges and win the Top Alcohol Dragster title 45 minutes later.

Bernstein reflects "That race was special because of the turnaround for the Budweiser King crew to put us into the winner's circle and dominate as much as we did after being in trouble the previous couple of years. I was uneasy early in the season and felt we weren't going to win the championship. I thought we would be decent, but not of championship caliber. I had spoken to Tim about this months before, and when he became available, I decided it was necessary to make the change. "The icing on the cake was Brandon also winning, making us the first father-son program to win at the same event and on the same day. It was even more special because my father was there; he doesn't go to but a couple of events each year, so it was special for him to see his son and grandson win. "It was unique; we got to see Brandon run because they ran the Pro finals ahead of the Sportsman, so I got to be up there to see him. Normally, we would still be thrashing in the pits when he ran."

Competing in only his third national event with Jerry Darien and Ken Meadows' A/Fuel Dragster, Brandon was not one of the favorites going into eliminations after qualifying 11th with a last-ditch 5.57, but he defeated three of the top four qualifiers, including four-time and then-reigning national champ Rick Santos.

After a first-round victory over Brian Hough, Brandon handed Santos his first loss of the year in round two on a holeshot, 5.49 to 5.46. Brandon then defeated No. 2 qualifier Brandon Henkelman, 5.55 to 5.60.

In the final, Hentges was nearly two-hundredths quicker than the younger Bernstein at the starting line and had built what appeared to be an insurmountable lead, but four blower studs on the right side of Hentges' car broke and coasted to a 6.19 against Brandon's 5.75.

The last time that a father and son had the opportunity to win two classes at the same event was at the 1984 Le Grand-national in Quebec, where John Tolisano won Comp and his son, Joe, fell short in the Super Stock final.

To add further father-son significance to the Bernsteins' feat, Kenny had defeated Cowin's father and crew chief, Graeme, in Graeme's only NHRA Funny Car final round, at the 1987 Winternationals.