Kenny Bernstein Announces Retirement From Drag Racing

After a professional drag racing career that’s spanned 45 years as both a driver and owner and a list of accomplishments that will never be equaled, Kenny Bernstein officially announced he retirement from drag racing in a statement on Tuesday.

Bernstein, subbing for his injured son, Brandon, at the 2003 NHRA U.S. Nationals.

“My wife Sheryl and I have come to a place in our lives where we want to pursue other interests,” said Bernstein. “We have poured our hearts and souls in motorsports for over 30 years and that’s a full time job.  It consumes you and there is very little time to relax.”

“We are very proud of our accomplishments through the years and it’s been a great ride, but we’re interested in being able to travel at will, we want to spend some time on the golf course, and we’ve recently taken up fly fishing, which we really enjoy. It’s time to enjoy life while we still have our health.”

“Kenny, Brandon, Sheryl and team are a first-class organization.  We have enjoyed our partnership over the past two seasons,” said Jay Adair, CEO of Copart.  “We wish Kenny and Sheryl the best in retirement.”

“Copart was supportive of our decision and we’re very grateful to CEO Jay Adair and President Vinnie Mitz for giving us their blessing and allowing us to step away from the sport,” continued Bernstein.  “The Auto Club Finals at Pomona this past weekend was our final run.”

As a driver, Bernstein is a six-time NHRA champion, and also holds the distinction of being the only team owner in motorsports with wins in each of the major organizations: NHRA drag racing, NASCAR, and CART. On March 20, 1992 in Gainesville, Fla., Bernstein forever cemented his name into drag racing infamy when he recorded drag racing’s first 300 MPH run. From that moment forth, Bernstein was and will forever be known as the “King of Speed.”

“There’s certainly a great deal of sadness in coming to terms with the end of an era and some concern about whether or not you can run a life at 300 mph and then come to a sudden stop, but Sheryl and I gave this a tremendous amount of thought before we came to our final decision. Brandon was also a part of the decision-making process and we are going to do everything we can to help him find a position with another team.  Brandon lives and breathes the day-to-day demands and understands the endless hours of effort that we poured into the team. Brandon wanted what was best for Sheryl and me at this stage of our lives. He was totally selfless.”

Bernstein was directly linked to Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser brand maintained the longest-running primary sponsorship association in the history of auto racing – 30 years. Bernstein won 69 national events, four consecutive Funny Car championships from 1985-1989, and two Top Fuel titles (1996, 2001), and was voted in the top 10 on NHRA’s Greatest Drivers List. As a Top Fuel team owner, Bernstein won 18 national events with Brandon at the wheel.

“We salute the late great NHRA founder Wally Parks, who was a dear friend and gave us an arena in which to live out our dreams. We are fortunate to have had a job that we loved and without Wally’s vision, it’s hard to say where our life’s path would have led.”

“For a youngster that grew up in Texas dreaming about cars and reading Hot Rod magazine, we were able to live the dream. Thanks again to all those who have touched our lives.  We are walking away with a treasure chest full of memories.”

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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