| | Results
LAS VEGAS -- Kenny Bernstein won the Top Fuel final in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals on Sunday, beating Joe Amato in a
tire-smoking duel at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Bernstein, a 23-time winner in NHRA's top division, had a quarter-mile run of 4.907 seconds with a top speed of 282.78 mph. Amato, who lost traction, finished in 5.213 seconds with a top speed of 314.09 mph.
"To win today against the best out there is a great feeling," said No. 1 qualifier Bernstein, who debuted a new Hadman chassis at this event. "We had to race Schumacher, Scelzi and Amato. All the drivers out here are tough, but that's a pretty tough day's work as far as I'm concerned."
It is the first victory for Bernstein since the 1998 NHRA Finals.
"This is a big one," Bernstein said. "We've had a year-and-a-half drought and the pressure was starting to build for the team. That's a long time to go without a win. It's not the normal deal for us. The guys can take a breath now and say, 'OK, we got it accomplished, now let's move on.' We've been saying for five months that we just need to win one."
Jim Epler, Jeg Coughlin, Angelle Seeling and Bob Panella also won their divisions in the $1.8 million race, the fourth of 23 events in the $45 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.
Epler raced to his third career Funny Car victory and first since 1993, beating Tony Pedregon in the final. Epler had a winning run of 4.983 seconds at 302.21 mph, while Pedregon lost traction near the finish in a run of 5.417 seconds at 197.02 mph.
"It's been six-and-a-half years since I've won," said Epler, who debuted a new paint scheme on his Camaro featuring WWF wrestler 'Kane.' "I'm just really happy to get it done again. Jerry (Toliver, team owner) has done such an exceptional job of putting together a winning team that it makes racing a
lot of fun. The car was just on a string every run today. It was flawless."
Coughlin won his third Pro Stock title of the season, defeating rival Warren Johnson. Coughlin finished in 7.072 seconds at 195.56 mph, and Johnson had a run of 7.100 seconds at 195.51 mph.
Seeling claimed her first Pro Stock Motorcycle victory of the season, outrunning Tony Mullen. Seelings finished in 7.405 seconds at 177.28 mph. Mullen shut his bike off early because of mechanical problems.
Defending Pro Stock Truck champion Panella earned his second victory of the season, powering away from Randy Daniels at the finish. Panella finished in 7.680 seconds at 176.24 mph, while Daniels had a run of 7.719 seconds at 175.75 mph. | |
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