KENNY  BERNSTEIN

09/06/1944

was an American drag racer and former NASCAR and Indy Car team owner.  He has also been nicknamed "The King of Speed," because he was the first driver to break 300 miles per hour in the standing-start quarter mile.  He called his race team "King Racing".  In 1985 Bernstein got into NASCAR racing as an owner.  He hired Joe Ruttman to drive the Quaker State Buick.  The team showed immediate success posting five top five finishes it's first season; including second place finishes at Richmond and Martinsville.  1987 saw Morgan Shepherd behind the wheel, and the pair posted seven top five finishes. Once again his driver finished runner up as the team continued to be right on the cusp of getting their first win.  Ricky Rudd would take over the driving duties for 1988 and 1989, and they would finally break through and grab their first win.  Rudd would out run Rusty Wallace to get the win at the road course of Watkins Glen.  In 1989 Rudd would again grab a win for Bernstein.  This time on the road course at Sonoma, and once again just edging out Rusty Wallace.  Rudd left Bernstein at the end of 1989 to drive for Rick Hendrick.  Kenny picked up Brett Bodine who would carry his name over the drivers door for the next five seasons.  For a third year in a row, Bernstein would see his driver visit victory lane.  Bodine would lead a race 

high 146 laps and beat Darrell Waltrip.  This would be the final win for Bernstein's team, but they were always close to a win.  Bodine once again posted a second place finish in 1991, and the duo just missed winning major events finishing second at the Southern 500 in 1993, and the Brickyard 400 in 1994.  Bodine moved over to drive for Junior Johnson in 1995, so Hut Stricklin assumed driving duties.  The team ran respectable, but at the end of the 1995 season Bernstein decided to shut down his NASCAR operation to concentrate more on drag racing.  His entire career with CUP, Bernstein was sponsored by Quaker state, and his drivers drove the #26 car with almost identical paint schemes for all those years.  The only noticeable change was that Bernstein started off racing Buicks and switched to Fords in 1992.

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