The new sponsorship was announced live on NHRA Raceday.

Kenny Bernstein, right, was joined by, from left, son Brandon, NHRA President Tom Compton, Charlotte and Forrest Lucas, and Copart President Jay Adair and CEO Willis Johnson during the announcement in his pit area.

During the rain delay, we all headed over to Kenny Bernstein's pit area for the press conference where he was expected to announce his team's new sponsor for 2010. There had been plenty of speculation and leaks about the identity of the sponsor, and he definitely had a packed house of curious media, fellow racers, and a number of associated team sponsors on hand, which led to a lot of second-guessing. Plus on the heels of Don Prudhomme's announcement yesterday, heck, anything can happen.

Forrest and Charlotte and Morgan Lucas, longtime backers of the Bernstein team, were in attendance, leading many to speculate that the Bernsteins would become yet another car to carry Lucas Oil as a primary name on its flanks, but before long the reception area also was filled with happy looking people in Copart shirts.

Kenny and Brandon weren't there; they were a few hundred feet away on the stage of NHRA Raceday with Dave Rieff and Copart President Jay Adair to make the announcement live on ESPN2. We had a feed in the pit area so that we could watch the show, which included the signing of the official contract by both KB and Adair.

The Bernsteins and Adair joined us in the pit area shortly after, where they were greeted with handshakes and hugs and applause. Benrstein addressed the assembled crowd, and he and Adair spoke, as did NHRA President Tom Compton, Copart CEO Willis Johnson, and Forrest Lucas.

The Bernstein car will be outfitted in blue livery next year, which will help the identity of the new backer and separate people's minds from the "Forever Red" Budweiser union that Bernstein has long enjoyed. Bernstein, who first met Adair in Sonoma, called the sponsorship a "rebirth" for him and his team and that he was looking forward to helping further increase awareness of Copart, which sells more than a million cars a year online through its Web site.