Copart, major sponsor on the Kenny Bernstein-owned Copart/Lucas Oil team, will pay tribute to the U.S. Air Force at the SummitRacing.com Nationals April 16-18 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In a patriotic salute, Copart has relinquished their primary position on the race car to the U.S. Air Force for this event only.

“All of us at Copart have a tremendous appreciation for our service men and women who keep America safe and fight for our freedoms,” said Copart CEO Jay Adair. “Our founder, Willis Johnson, is a Vietnam veteran and many of our employees have served in the Armed Forces or are currently serving in the Reserves. Copart is also headquartered in Fairfield, California, home to Travis Air Force Base, so we are honored to be able to give the Air Force some recognition by giving them the primary sponsorship position on the Bernstein dragster.”

Copart, major sponsor on the Kenny Bernstein-owned Copart/Lucas Oil team, will pay tribute to the U.S. Air Force at the SummitRacing.com Nationals April 16-18 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In a patriotic salute, Copart has relinquished their primary position on the race car to the U.S. Air Force for this event only.

“All of us at Copart have a tremendous appreciation for our service men and women who keep America safe and fight for our freedoms,” said Copart CEO Jay Adair. “Our founder, Willis Johnson, is a Vietnam veteran and many of our employees have served in the Armed Forces or are currently serving in the Reserves. Copart is also headquartered in Fairfield, California, home to Travis Air Force Base, so we are honored to be able to give the Air Force some recognition by giving them the primary sponsorship position on the Bernstein dragster.”

“It’s rewarding to see the synergy, respect and mutual admiration among our family of sponsors,” said Bernstein.  “With Nellis Air Force Base so close to the track it opens up a lot of opportunities to cross-promote. Additionally, we want to join Copart in paying tribute to all the men and women who continue to fight for our freedom abroad and keep us safe at home.”

The Bernsteins have enjoyed great success in Las Vegas.  Kenny won the inaugural event at The Strip in 2001 and followed with an encore performance in 2002.  In addition to back-to-back victories, he was also the No. 1 qualifier at both events.

Brandon won in 2007 and was runner-up here last year.

“We are in a perfect position to launch our resurgence,” said Copart/Lucas Oil pilot Brandon Bernstein.  “We have Todd Smith and Donnie Bender guiding our performance efforts and we feel we have our legs under us and we’re ready to ‘drive, fight, and win,’ to take a little liberty with the Air Force ‘fly, fight, and win’ mission statement.

“We are focused and energized and ready to turn on the afterburners to get back to our winning ways.”

Nitro (Top Fuel and Funny Car) qualifying for the SummitRacing.com Nationals begins Friday, April 16 at 1 p.m. with a second session at 4 p.m. There are two qualifying rounds Saturday, noon and 3 p.m. with final eliminations scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Six-time NHRA champion team owner Kenny Bernstein has extended his team’s official hotel relationship with the remodeled contemporary New York-New York Hotel & Casino for the NHRA national events at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.