THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505190245
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 42 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Why would a sales manager at Courtesy Ford want to risk his life drag racing at 190 mph?
``There's only one place and that's first place,'' said Kevin Bernard, a resident of Currituck County. ``Second place is for losers. That's the way I go about it.''
Bernard recently took first place in the International Hot Rod Association President's Cup race in Budds Creek, Md. He beat veteran racer Ted May.
Racing in the Sportsman's Class, Bernard was the top racer in a field of 80.
It was quite an achievement considering he placed 14th in qualifying, running the quarter-mile strip in 7.22 seconds, or approximately 190 mph.
``Running that fast is really hard to explain,'' Bernard said. ``It's like the same concept of losing your stomach jumping off a building or skydiving. You're rolling.''
Bernard has raced all types of vehicles including three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and jet skis.
``I've been racing since I was 16. My dad raced motorcycles,'' he said. ``It's in the family blood. I won my first race in the three-wheelers and it kind of took off from there.''
Bernard said he stopped racing for a while, then got hooked up with Roy Hill, a drag racer from the past, who owns a drag racing school.
``I went to the school and I met him there,'' Bernard said. ``He liked what he saw, and he asked me to come back to another one.
``He asked me to drive one of his cars in a local race,'' he added. ``I did all right so he asked me to go on tour with him in 1994 until my car was done.''
Bernard is now a part-time instructor in the school where he pushes his philosophy about winning.
``We train people to be like a computer. They run through a series of steps. It's the same thing every time,'' he said. ``You don't think about it - you just do it. You have to be really focused and have an objective, and that's to win.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Kevin Bernard, sales manager at Courtesy Ford took first place in
the International Hot Rod Association President's Cup race in Budds
Creek, Md.
by CNB