Kenny Bernstein and the Monster Energy/Lucas Oil team are picking up the pieces, literally, and putting together another chassis and Dodge Charger Funny Car body for competition at the Torco Racing Fuels Nationals, Oct. 5-7.

Legendary drivers Bernstein and John Force collided in second round competition in Dallas, Texas.  News of the accident jammed cyberspace for hours as fans and friends searched for information.  The accident happened when Force’s car began to break apart and became unmanageable.  Bernstein climbed out of his chassis without injury, while Force was airlifted to a Dallas hospital and underwent a surgical procedure to repair ankle, hand, wrist, and knee injuries.

“John is a good friend and we’re happy to know he is making good progress,” said Bernstein. “We know it’s going to be a painful recuperative process, but John is strong and determined. 

“When drivers go through an accident like this, the best thing from my point of view is to get back in the saddle and ride the horse.  I will be fortunate enough to be able to do that at Richmond.

“The saving grace for John is that he doesn’t remember much of the run at all, so the vision won’t keep looping through his brain.  I remember everything that happened, but I never want to review video footage or photos from something like this.  I leave the review process to Jimmy (Walsh, crew chief).  So I’m mentally prepared to get on with qualifying. Kenny Bernstein and the Monster Energy/Lucas Oil team are picking up the pieces, literally, and putting together another chassis and Dodge Charger Funny Car body for competition at the Torco Racing Fuels Nationals, Oct. 5-7.

Legendary drivers Bernstein and John Force collided in second round competition in Dallas, Texas.  News of the accident jammed cyberspace for hours as fans and friends searched for information.  The accident happened when Force’s car began to break apart and became unmanageable.  Bernstein climbed out of his chassis without injury, while Force was airlifted to a Dallas hospital and underwent a surgical procedure to repair ankle, hand, wrist, and knee injuries.

“John is a good friend and we’re happy to know he is making good progress,” said Bernstein. “We know it’s going to be a painful recuperative process, but John is strong and determined. 

“When drivers go through an accident like this, the best thing from my point of view is to get back in the saddle and ride the horse.  I will be fortunate enough to be able to do that at Richmond.

“The saving grace for John is that he doesn’t remember much of the run at all, so the vision won’t keep looping through his brain.  I remember everything that happened, but I never want to review video footage or photos from something like this.  I leave the review process to Jimmy (Walsh, crew chief).  So I’m mentally prepared to get on with qualifying.

“Physically, Jimmy and the entire Monster Energy/Lucas Oil team have a lot of work to do.

Tuesday after the accident they took the damaged Dallas chassis to Murf McKinney’s shop, who manufactures our chassis, and found out it was beyond repair.  That chassis was on its third race.

“We have two more chassis and three more bodies, so we should be good to go for the remaining three races.

“I also want to say that the padding around my head which was beefed up as a result of the technological advances that John Force Racing is doing as a result of losing their driver and our friend Eric Medlen earlier this season, certainly helped us weather the impact of the crash(es) much better.  By the same token, I’m sure their research played a big part in saving John from more serious injury.

“We want to thank our friends and fans who contacted us through emails, faxes and phone calls after the accident, concerned about our well-being.  It means a lot to have everyone reach out and rally around.  It gives us momentum to get back out and do the very best we can for them.”

Bernstein and Force collectively have 20 NHRA world championships and 194 national event wins to their credit.