Brandon Bernstein calls it "aggressive finesse."

The Copart Dragster Top Fuel driver is preparing for next weekend's Tire Kingdom Gatornationals, seeking his 19th victory and first since last October at Richmond, Va. And he used the term to describe crew chief Rob Flynn's plan to draw better elapsed times and speeds from the car.

It's too early for any driver to have developed much of a pattern, but naturally Bernstein would like to improve on his 10th- and seventh-place starting positions, knowing how every seemingly insignificant point counts at the end of the season. And those improved E.T.s will help earn those points.

"We have high hopes for this season," he said, adding that the task at hand is "coaxing more performance out of our Copart/Lucas Oil dragster in the middle of the track. Our 60-foot times are good, and knock on wood, we haven't had much problem with loss of traction. If we can keep power to the ground and get a little more aggressive with our clutch set-up, then we should pick up elapsed times and speeds.

Brandon Bernstein calls it "aggressive finesse."

The Copart Dragster Top Fuel driver is preparing for next weekend's Tire Kingdom Gatornationals, seeking his 19th victory and first since last October at Richmond, Va. And he used the term to describe crew chief Rob Flynn's plan to draw better elapsed times and speeds from the car.

It's too early for any driver to have developed much of a pattern, but naturally Bernstein would like to improve on his 10th- and seventh-place starting positions, knowing how every seemingly insignificant point counts at the end of the season. And those improved E.T.s will help earn those points.

"We have high hopes for this season," he said, adding that the task at hand is "coaxing more performance out of our Copart/Lucas Oil dragster in the middle of the track. Our 60-foot times are good, and knock on wood, we haven't had much problem with loss of traction. If we can keep power to the ground and get a little more aggressive with our clutch set-up, then we should pick up elapsed times and speeds.

"This sounds like an easier tweak than it really is," Bernstein said. "Too much power puts you right back into loss of traction. It's just sort of aggressive finesse."

Bernstein knows how to get down Gainesville Raceway quickest four times in a day. He won the Gatornationals in 2003, five years after dad Kenny won in Top Fuel (to add to his three Funny Car crowns there in 1984, 1985, and 1988).

And this time he goes into the NHRA's 2010 East Coast debut on an upbeat. Longtime family friend and colleague Dale Armstrong, tuner for five of Kenny Bernstein's six series championships, has been chosen for induction this August 25 into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

Armstrong will join Joie Chitwood, Jeremy McGrath, and Ken Squier at the ceremony at The Fillmore Detroit. Alan Kulwicki, Jerry Titus, and Rich Vogler will be inducted posthumously.

Next year will mark two decades since Armstrong helped Bernstein's father and team owner Kenny Bernstein broke the 300-mile-an-hour barrier at Florida's fabled Gainesville Raceway March 20, 1992. That, Kenny Bernstein has said, is his greatest achievement among many in his 3-year career.

Armstrong, of course, had his own outstanding driving career, with 12 NHRA national-event victories in the 1970s. But he is best remembered for his technological innovations. He was the first crew chief to use wind tunnels for improved aerodynamics, propelling Kenny Bernstein to four consecutive Funny Car championships (1985-1988) and 28 national-event victories. Both he and Bernstein stood among the sport's elite, combining to record championships in both the Funny Car and Top Fuel classes.

None of that was lost on Brandon Bernstein, who in winning at Gainesville in 2003 set a speed record of 327.27-mph along the way.

However, he's focusing not on the past but rather on the present -- and the future.

"This is the third race of a 23-event season," Brandon Bernstein said. "Our goal is to score an early victory for Copart, Lucas Oil, Mac Tools, LaPaz, and all the other sponsors who have supported us through the years."

Still, he knows that he and his team "definitely need to be consistent  going down the stretch. That's the main thing. Anybody can get in the top 10, it seems like nowadays, by winning a few races or being up there. But when the Countdown starts, that's when the pressure is. That's when you have to perform."

He said he thinks he has grown as a driver, "just by experience and seat time. Our seat time is so limited in these race cars. I really feel like I've done a lot in the race car and had a lot of things happen to me that I feel I've become a decent driver to where I'm competitive and doing the right things in the seat. And we can win races and win a championship."

And he'll have a little fun along the way this year, in addition to the arrival of his and wife Tracey's baby daughter sometime around April 29. Bernstein has done some cross-promotional ventures with NASCAR Sprint Cup top-10 driver Carl Edwards, his Copart colleague. They appear together in an advertisement for their sponsor.

"We just have to go out there and prove that we can win races and do everything there is to do in the marketplace for Copart," Bernstein said. "We're out here to try to grow his business, and we're out here to win."

And the buzz phrase is "aggressive finesse."