MAVTV's Bernstein surge continues with semifinal berth in Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. - MAVTV/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Brandon Bernstein reached his fourth semifinal round in seven races on Sunday at the NHRA Sonoma Nationals.

"It was a real good weekend for the MAVTV team," Bernstein said. "We did well by going rounds again. It's tough beating those guys. We're so happy with the car. It's running consistent.

"I know I keep saying this every weekend, but we're close. Now we just move on to Seattle where we'll hopefully keep winning."

On the way to the semis, Bernstein beat Bob Vandergriff and David Grubnic. Antron Brown was the driver who ended Bernstein's day for a second straight week.

Brandon Bernstein

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

"We're going rounds," Bernstein said. "We want to come out of the Western Swing in a good points position. It feels like we're getting hot and it's a good time to be doing that."

Against Brown in the semis, the two cars launched at nearly identical times and were neck-and-neck to the 60 foot mark. Soon after that, the tires on the MAVTV rail spun and Brown sped away to a finish of 3.817 seconds at 320.36 mph. Bernstein finished in 5.126 seconds at 142.03 mph.

Against the No. 2 qualifier Grubnic, Bernstein gave up a little on the starting line, but it didn't matter as Grubnic smoked his tires and Bernstein won going away with 3.849 second pass at 320.05 mph. Grubnic limped across in 6.947 seconds at 84.80 mph.

"That win felt great, because that car was so good all weekend," Bernstein said. "It seems we always race against him and it was nice to get a good run against him."

To open the day, Bernstein got off the starting line first against Vandergriff and never looked back. Bernstein broke off a 3.809 second pass at 322.65 mph to Vandergriff's 3.890 at 306.12 mph.

With his success on Sunday, Bernstein moved to within seven points of seventh place Shawn Langdon in the Top Fuel Standings. Bernstein and the MAVTV crew will look to continue their success next weekend at the August 3-5 O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Seattle.

Source: Geiger Media