The 2009 will be a landmark year for the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team and Kenny Bernstein Racing.  It will be a year of change and a season of celebration as it marks the 30th anniversary of the Budweiser/Bernstein sponsorship association, the longest sponsor/team relationship in autosports history.

"We are so proud of our unprecedented water mark for the longest consecutive partnership in all of autosports," said six-time NHRA champion Kenny Bernstein.  "We are deeply indebted to August Busch III and IV, as well as the sports marketing and brand personnel who have supported our program these last three decades.  We also want to thank all the wholesalers who have used our race team as a marketing and sales tool.  It was the collaborative support of all these individuals who contributed to the longevity of our program.

"Our 30-year tenure with Budweiser says a lot for the sport of drag racing. The 2009 will be a landmark year for the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team and Kenny Bernstein Racing.  It will be a year of change and a season of celebration as it marks the 30th anniversary of the Budweiser/Bernstein sponsorship association, the longest sponsor/team relationship in autosports history.

"We are so proud of our unprecedented water mark for the longest consecutive partnership in all of autosports," said six-time NHRA champion Kenny Bernstein.  "We are deeply indebted to August Busch III and IV, as well as the sports marketing and brand personnel who have supported our program these last three decades.  We also want to thank all the wholesalers who have used our race team as a marketing and sales tool.  It was the collaborative support of all these individuals who contributed to the longevity of our program.

"Our 30-year tenure with Budweiser says a lot for the sport of drag racing.

"It's mind boggling to think that Budweiser Lager Beer was introduced in 1876 and we have the honor to represent the brand and display the colors and logo on our Top Fuel dragster 123 years later."

The Bernstein/Budweiser partnership eclipses Richard Petty's 28-year primary sponsorship by Scientifically Treated Petroleum (STP).

In 1979 Kenny Bernstein made the sales pitch that won the Budweiser brand, parking his race transporter and Funny Car in the Anheuser-Busch employee parking lot early one morning.  The maneuver was pure genius.  The interest and buzz created by the parking lot display won a sponsorship bid that began the legacy of Kenny Bernstein and Budweiser Racing. The 30-year highlights package includes such unforgettable performances as Kenny clinching four back-to-back NHRA Funny Car championships (1985-1988) with technological innovations that changed the sport, followed by two Top Fuel championships (1996, 2001), and the achievement Kenny names his greatest:  becoming the first to surpass the 300 miles-per-hour barrier in 1992. That accomplishment earned him the title, "King of Speed."

The familiar Budweiser red colors and logo have adorned some of the quickest and fastest NHRA nitro-breathing race cars for three decades and has transcended two generations of Bernsteins, including son Brandon who inherited his father's passion for racing.  Between the two drivers, the Budweiser -sponsored cars have claimed 85 NHRA national event victories, with Kenny scoring 68 total wins, 29 Funny Car and 39 Top Fuel. The sponsorship has spanned the leadership of six U.S. Presidents, pivotal moments in history and numerous pop culture icons.