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Story by Dwight Drum
Photos by Gary Larsen
I consider the opportunity to ask questions of The Bud King, The King of Speed, a regal moment. Kenny Bernstein is a busy champion, and getting his press department to arrange a meeting takes coordination and patience. When I met Kenny and we sat under the impressive Budweiser awning, I attempted to explain the nature of my interview. Kenny was swift with his professionalism and confidence, as he told me " Just ask the questions." 'Kings Rule', so I promptly obliged. Listen in to Kenny's candor, as he proceeded to answer my questions with good speed.
DOB: September 6, 1944
Home Town: Lake Forest, California
"I've been asked that question before. What do you want to be remembered for? I can't answer that. We try to do the best e can out here, and be as straight-forward and honest as possible, and give the fans something to be proud of, and our sponsors and sport something to be proud of. That's all we can do. However people look at you or think about you, I can't control that. I know one thing, we tell it like it is."
What's most important?"Winning. It's the only thing that motivates me, and it doesn't matter what it is either."
Do you have a nickname?"No, other than 'King of Speed' through the years. Fortunately for us we have been able to uphold that sometimes."
Who are your Heroes? (If you have heroes.)"I'm sure I've had heroes as a youngster, but they change from time to time, and I don't know if I could pinpoint one. As a kid growing up in Texas, reading about drag racing, Don Garlits' name was always right there, so I guess he was a hero of some sort, but I don't know if I have any one person as a hero. I probably had a lot of them through the years, and every few years there's a different one. No one specific."
Are you pleased with life?"Yeah. I've been very fortunate to be able to do what I've wanted to do from the time I was a kid. I dreamed about being able to race and make a living, and I can't say enough for my teammates who have been with me through the years, and Budweiser and Mac Tools, and people who have stood by us for so many years. Yes, I'm happy. I can look in the mirror, and feel okay. I can look in the mirror and know that I've tried to do the best I could all the time, and know that I was honest and ethical about doing it. I can feel good about that. Some days it works for out for you, some days it doesn't."
"In business which is racing for me, winning another championship would be phenomenal for me. In life, it's health, having my health, my wife's health and my friend's health. I've lost a lot of friends to cancer and other things. Certainly, today as we speak, it is extremely important to me and everybody else that we pray for those in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington and support the families who lost husbands, wives, and children, uncles and aunts in such a devastating situation, so ridiculously uncalled for. I hope as the President said, 'We will get those people', because they definitely need to be taken care of. There's a lot of things you can wish for."
When driving a car, do you always wear a seatbelt?"Yes I do. I wasn't good at it for a while, but I'm very dedicated to it now."
"Yeah, I have a few hobbies. I play a lot of golf when I can. Of course, my schedule dictates some of that. I love to ride motorcycles, not around town, but on the highway on trips, and it's sort of a hobby. I like exercising, cardiovascular and weightlifting. Those things keep me busy when I'm not racing."
Do you work out?"Oh yeah."
Name one other sport, you feel you could master or be competitive at?""If you asked me that when I was about twenty, I'd have a few I could tell you about. I've been an athlete all my life, growing up, football, basketball, and baseball. I'm a real 'stick and ball' guy, and I wished I'd have been a little bigger, so I could have been hopefully successful at other sports, certainly at football. I did love it as much as I love racing, but I never was that big. I wasn't like the monsters they have become today. I don't know if there is anything that could become as good at as what has happened to us with racing, a great race team. It took twenty two years for that to happen."
If you could make one part of your body stronger, what part would that be?"I'd like to be smarter. I feel I'm street-smart, but I'd like to be smarter, intellectually also. I think that would be an asset to a person. I'm not complaining about the way I am, but I have that wish."
"We have no pets. We love pets, don't misunderstand me, with our travel schedule it's impossible, but some day I'll have dogs, cats, and horses, somewhere."
Do you have a special diet?"It's not a diet, it's just a way of eating, it's easy on the sugar. No sugar. That's the real key to it. I've been able to maintain, eating what I want. You can't make sugar in the body. Stay away from that sugar."
What quality do you admire most in other people?"Honesty. Straightforwardness. Tell it like it is. I don't do well with people who are deceitful, and don't tell the truth. It's a gray area. I'm not good with those people. I don't have respect for them."
When frustrated. What do you do first?"Depends on the circumstances. I don't hold things in too well. I would say I probably get things off my chest in a hurry. I'm not one to let things hang around. If I've got something to say, you're going to know about it, and then it's over with for me. I don't hold it. I don't harbor it. It's done."
"I don't really have a mental routine. I guess if I do at all, sometimes I'll close my eyes and visualize the starting line, the lights, and how I'm going to stage, and the competitor is going to stage, and when the first yellow comes on. I'll do that a few times, and that comes and goes. When I 'm comfortable with the car, when we're running great, I probably don't even think about that stuff. When I know that it's a big run, and I've got to be on my game, then I probably do it. You have to understand, I've been doing this a long time, and a lot of this stuff comes with a natural reaction, and natural subconscious way of doing it verses thinking about it. You have to think, by all means, that there are those days up there I close my eyes a lot and visualize what's going to happen. Of course, I visualize winning always."
What are (or have been) your scariest moments?"When they happen to you, they are not as scary, cause you're just a rider, and hoping to live through it, to be honest. After the fact, is when you feel about the scary side. Probably the wreck in 92 at Pomona was the hardest one we had, the biggest hit, and I thank God above that I was able to get out of it without any problems. I've always said, if you're going to be afraid of this racecar, you won't be a very good driver. You have to have total commitment and concentration on what you're doing."
What do you do to unwind?"As I've said before, exercising, playing golf and riding motorcycles. Sometimes you're not capable of doing those things because you're not in a place to d o it. If I'm uptight or really worried, exercise is the best way for me to pull it off a bit."
If you could change one thing about drag racing, what would you change?"I couldn't begin to answer that. I couldn't put it to one thing I'd like to see, but I want to say, We've come a long way baby. Tom Compton and team are doing an excellent job. There's always second-guessers, always ways to look at things differently, but I'm not going to take away anything from them today at all. I've got a lot of ideas, but I'm not announcing any today."
"I probably have through the years, especially the night before a big race, or when we are in the hunt for a championship, I know I have. I don't remember specifics. I may have had one last night, come to think of it. I remember something about a racecar going fast and quick."
Where do you find the most peace in your life?"That's a hard question, because it can vary. I certainly find tremendous peace with my wife Cheryl. She's been with me twenty years, and she's my partner, my best friend. I find peace with friends on a golf course, and riding motorcycles. That's very peaceful. Sometimes it's peaceful at the racetrack too. Sometimes that's a great place for me to be very calm and peaceful. I think it depends on what's going on."
You're a champion racer, what's different about you and other drivers?"I don't know. I couldn't answer what's different about the other drivers and me. I know everybody tries to do the best they can out there. Concentration, reaction, and reflexes are extremely important, but I don't know if that's different from anybody else. I just try to do the best I can."
What do you worry about the most?"That's another tough question. It depends on what day. Money and sponsorships are a worry sometimes. I worry about performing, doing my job, letting my team down. It could be the next golf shot I've got to take. I probably worry about that sometimes, that I don't hook it out of bounds. Worry is something created by what goes on around you, and what's happening."
Can you describe the G-forces at the tree…the launch?"It's a tremendous amount of force on your body. I don't know really that you feel what they are. You know they are there, because our computer shows 5 G's. It does sit you back in the seat hard, but it isn't like it tries to rip your face off, or your neck off or anything like that. It's massive. It's awesome. It's a tremendous amount of acceleration, and if it's running good, it will continue to do that down the entire quarter mile. You will know it's a good run."
What does your fastest speed feel like?"When it runs good, when you get to the finish line, you don't want to quit. It's still going forward and accelerating. Many times when you get to the finish line, it's over with, and you're ready to get out of it. If it's one of those runs, that has run on eight solid cylinders the whole way, and glued the tires to the race track, and pinned you in the seat the entire way, when you get to the finish line, you don't want to quit. That's a good run."
"I've made a lot of mistakes. I hope I've learned from all of them. Nothing specific, but in the past some things, I wish I could have done over."
Who means the most to you?"My wife Cheryl means the most to me, and I don't want to put her ahead of my father and mother too much, but she is my best friend. She means the most to me, because she with me twenty hours a day. The four hours I'm playing golf, she's not, but she's probably the most important to me and she has been for twenty years."
If you could acquire three traits from three people, what traits would you take from whom?"I'm uptight a lot of times. I'm a little more serious than a lot of people, because I worry about every little thing, because I want things to be perfect. I think that's good. I would like to have another side, that could loosen up and be a little lighter on. I don't know who I'd take that from. It's hard to be happy-go-luck all the time. I do have fun. People know I'm straightforward, tough, and understanding, but I don't put up with any crap and that's good. I'd like to be a little softer sometimes, and I think I have through the years."
How did you get started in drag racing?"As a kid in Lovell, Texas. We started racing our cars. We raced 55 Chevrolets on up. That's how it started."
What do you fear?"I respect. I don't fear. I respect the car and know what the car can do to you, but I don't fear it. If I feared it, I don't need to be a driver."
What drives you? What's different about you?"I don't know what different means. I know I have a lot of determination. I don't give up easy. I'm sure other people are the same way. I'm a determined person."
In a few words, how would you sum up…yourself?"I'm honest, ethical, straightforward, run it by the book, understanding, and compassionate. I believe I have all those things and it depends on the situation, which comes out. I care about people, about my friends, I care about the sport, and the world. I'm not one-sided. I try to look at the whole picture."
When I thanked Kenny for his time and answers, he smiled and said, "I hope it works for you." Kenny shared many words with us, and now I'd like to add just one more word. No other word for this King but…
