Brandon Bernstein Joins Morgan Lucas Racing For 2012 NHRA Season

By Anne Proffit

Anne Proffit

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Brandon Bernstein - Anne Proffit photo

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When his father, the legendary Kenny Bernstein closed shop and retired shortly after the end of the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season, Top Fuel standout Brandon Bernstein was left without a ride for the coming season.  The driver's team had been sponsored by Copart - and also had associate coverage from Lucas Oil - making the move to Morgan Lucas Racing's MavTV/Lucas Oil dragster a natural one.

Bernstein signed to drive for Morgan Lucas Racing for 2012 and beyond, the team said.  The dragster, driven the past three years by Shawn Langdon (now with Al-Anabi Racing) will be tuned by longtime crew members Joe Barlam and John DeFilippis.

"Brandon Bernstein is the total package," Morgan Lucas said.  "He brings an amazing presence, a professional attitude and a tremendous fan following to this race team, not to mention his obvious ability behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster.  He's the perfect choice to fill the seat and represent our sponsors."

Bernstein has 18 national event wins to his credit - all in the Top Fuel category - which ranks him fifth among active category drivers and ties Bernstein for tenth with the legendary Shirley Muldowney on the all-time Top Fuel list.  

"I'm honored to have this chance to drive for MavTV, Lucas Oil and Morgan Lucas Racing," Bernstein acknowledged.  "It was a stressful holiday season, to be honest, as I assessed the limited opportunities out there.  It wasn't much fun, until today.

"Racing with my dad was a dream come true," he continued, "and now I have a very unique chance to race with my second family - Forrest, Charlotte and Morgan Lucas.  We raced with the Lucas Oil brand on our cars for many years and it's great to come back into the fold.  I feel an immense amount of gratitude to them for giving me this chance."

MavTV president Bob Pattison recognizes, "Brandon Bernstein is a solid choice to pilot the MavTV Top Fuel dragster.  His professionalism and proven record of success on the track are exactly the attributes a sponsor wants in a driver.  Brandon will be a great ambassador for MavTV, a network featuring the best in movies, sports and variety programming."

In addition to MavTV and Lucas Oil, the rail has branding from ProtectTheHarvest.com, an initiative spearheaded by Lucas Oil co-founder Forrest Lucas.  Additional details on the specifics of the various sponsorship arrangements will be revealed closer to the start of the 2012 season.

As driver of the GEICO dragster Morgan Lucas realizes, "Drag racing requires a lot of its drivers.  The part where you're actually driving the car is only a small piece of what it takes.  Brandon has such a well-rounded vision of how to meet the demands of high-profile brands like MavTV, Lucas Oil, Toyota, GEICO and all the other companies that support Morgan Lucas Racing," he said.

"Brandon also knows how to interact with the media and the fans.  He's a real pro and that was a big part of why he was selected," Lucas explained.  "The fact we're longtime friends also was important.  Brandon's a family man with strong values.  He's the perfect choice to drive this car."

The 39-year-old Bernstein acknowledged his longtime friendships with Morgan Lucas and Joe Barlam cemented the deal.  "I've known these guys a long time.  Morgan and me grew up out here together and I remember bugging Joe back when he was a crew guy on the McDonald's race car.  I was probably 14 years old at the time but he was always cool to me and we've remained in touch.  It's a very comfortable feeling here.

"Joe and John have been working overtime with Morgan's [new] crew chiefs (Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi) to make these two dragsters identical.  We're going to take things to a new level this year," Bernstein proclaimed.

The Morgan Lucas Racing team will start its testing regimen on January 16th at Palm Beach International Raceway in south central Florida.