Kenny Bernstein is still The King of Speed
The six-time NHRA champion and 69-race winner joins us on this week's edition of The Racing Beat podcast.
Image: Dylan Bauerle
Kenny Bernstein is NHRA drag racing royalty. He is to the quarter-mile what Elvis Presley was to rock-and-roll or Richard Petty is to NASCAR: The King.
For 30 years (a motorsports record for sponsorship duration) of his nearly 40-year run in drag racing as both a driver and team owner, Bernstein was known as “The Budweiser King” due to sponsorship of both his Top Fuel dragster and Funny Cars by the legendary beer company.
Bernstein also became known as “The King of Speed” on March 20, 1992, when at Gainesville Raceway in Florida, at the legendary Gatornationals, Bernstein became the first driver in NHRA history to break the 300 mph barrier (he also was the first to break 260 mph several years earlier).
In this week’s edition of The Racing Beat podcast, we had a great trip down memory lane with Kenny — including his recall of that beautiful sunny March day in Gainesville as if it were yesterday — who still looks as if he could hop into a race car and give an old-fashioned butt-kicking to his opponent.
Speaking of which, check out what Kenny has to say about how he still gets the urge to mash the gas pedal practically every time he’s at a traffic light, waiting for the green to come on. And he does it in a bright red 2021 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 — with 760 horsepower!!!!
So without further adieu, click here to catch what drag racing’s King is up to these days.