DRAG RACING FINALS AT POMONA : Bernstein Gets Break: Rain on His Parade

Kenny Bernstein, a man used to making high-level decisions for himself, let Mother Nature make one for him Saturday. It turned out to be the one he would have made.

“I hope today’s program is rained out,” he said early in the day as a persistent mist delayed activity in the 27th annual Winston Finals drag racing program at the Pomona Fairplex. “I want to come back next week and get in the field and go on from there.”

At 2:15 p.m., National Hot Rod Assn. officials announced that Saturday and today’s schedules had been postponed because of wet track conditions. The entire two-day schedule, including the $86,000 Budweiser Top Fuel Classic, has been moved ahead one week.

Bernstein had a special reason for wanting the delay. His top-fuel dragster, still mathematically in the running for the Winston world championship, is not yet qualified for the Finals.

“If they pick up the schedule next Saturday and the weather is better, we will get our two qualifying runs and get our chance at catching Joe (Amato). If we’d had to run today, we would have made only one pass, and it would have been very nervous out there.

“We would also have had to almost forget about the Budweiser Classic, which we wanted very much to win, but at this stage of the season points are more important than anything.”

In Bernstein’s two runs, one Thursday and one Friday, he didn’t try hard enough on one and tried too hard on the other.

“We have a new fuel-management program, and we wanted to be careful the first time out and we ended up over-cautious,” he said. “The engine was too soft, we didn’t have enough horsepower and we weren’t running a good, clean eight cylinders.”

His elapsed time of 5.333 seconds at 268.09 m.p.h. left him the 17th-fastest qualifier for a 16-car field.

“We tuned everything up for the second run, and it responded too much,” Bernstein said. “We stood the front end up, and that’s not something you want to deal with.”

Bernstein said he might take his 4,000-horsepower top fueler to Bakersfield Raceway in Famoso or Firebird Raceway near Phoenix for additional testing before returning to Pomona next weekend.

Even with the postponement, Bernstein’s chances are extremely thin for adding a top-fuel championship to the funny-car titles he won in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988. Amato, the defending champion from Old Forge, Pa., has 13,858 points to 12,926 for Bernstein.

Two things must happen for Bernstein to win:

--Amato must lose in the first round next Sunday. It could happen. He lost in the first round two weeks in the Chief Nationals in Texas.

--Bernstein must be the No. 1 qualifier, win the Winston Finals and better the national elapsed time record of 4.897 seconds set by Amato last March 24 at Gainesville, Fla.

“This is not a likely track to set an E.T. record, but if conditions are right it is not impossible,” Bernstein said. The Pomona track record is 4.935 seconds by Don Prudhomme, set last February during the Winternationals. It is the 18th-fastest run in NHRA history.

Bernstein also is shooting for another record. He can become the first top-fuel driver to win seven national events in one season. He is tied at six with Amato in 1990, the late Gary Ormsby in 1989, Darrell Gwynn in 1988 and Don Garlits in 1985.

“Compared to last year, this year has been phenomenal,” Bernstein said. “To win six times and be in the (championship) hunt all year has been great. The only difference between us and Amato is his consistency. That’s what we have to work on next season, getting consistently quick runs every time we go down the track.”

Next season, Bernstein figures to be even stronger. He has hired Wes Cerny, who has been credited with helping Jim White reach record speeds of more than 290 m.p.h. in Roland Leong’s Hawaiian Punch funny car. Cerny, who worked for Keith Black’s engine-building firm, will specialize in the clutch management on Bernstein’s nitro-burning fueler.

John Force of Yorba Linda officially clinched the 1991 funny car championship when he collected 100 points for making a qualifying attempt. This left runner-up Jim White of Tulsa, Okla., too far back to be able to catch the defending champion.

Others still not yet qualified for the final eliminations include Shirley Muldowney, three-time top-fuel champion making yet another comeback with a new sponsor; Mark Oswald, 1984 funny-car champion; Dick LaHaie, 1987 top-fuel champion; and Jerry Eckman, winner of the 1990 Winternationals pro stock at Pomona.

Standings

TOP FUEL

Driver Points 1. Joe Amato 13,858 2. Kenny Bernstein 12,926 3. Don Prudhomme 12,090 4. Frank Hawley 9,564 5. Lori Johns 8,464 6. Eddie Hill 8,308 7. Tom McEwen 7,524 8. Gene Snow 7,390 9. Dick LaHaie 6,880 10. Cory McClenathan 6,198

FUNNY CAR

Driver Points 1. John Force* 14,816 2. Jim White 13,706 3. Mike Dunn 11,576 4. Mark Oswald 11,072 5. Ed McCulloch 10,382 6. Del Worsham 10,012 7. Al Hofmann 8,826 8. Tom Hoover 6,256 9. Richard Hartman 5,700 10. Jerry Caminito 5,078

PRO STOCK

Driver Points 1. Darrell Alderman* 16,420 2. Warren Johnson 13,930 3. Scott Geoffrion 9,598 4. Larry Morgan 8,976 5. Bob Glidden 8,928 6. Jerry Eckman 7,864 7. Bruce Allen 7,724 8. Mark Pawuk 7,450 9. Jim Yates 6,418 10. Rickie Smith 5,954

*Clinched championship