Madison, Ill. ? For the first time since coming out of retirement, Kenny Bernstein drove his way to the top qualifying position in the NHRA.

Bernstein was forced back into the car he owns when son Brandon was injured in a crash last month in Englishtown, N.J.

Saturday night, in the Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway, the elder Bernstein was the fastest Top Fuel qualifier with a 4.596-second run at 323.12 mph.

Gary Densham, Warren Johnson and Shawn Gann led their divisions.

It is the 66th top-qualifying position of Bernstein’s career.

“It has been real tough for Brandon to sit at home and hopefully we can make him feel better by getting the win on Sunday,” Bernstein said.

Densham earned his second No. 1 qualifying position of the season and fifth of his career with a 4.858 pass at a track-record speed of 316.97 in Funny Car.

Johnson earned the No. 1 spot for the third time this season and 130th time in his career. He covered a quarter-mile with a pass of 6.808 at 200.12 in Pro Stock.

Gann earned his second top spot of the season and fourth of his career with a track-record time of 7.136 at 187.31 in Pro Stock Bike.

Gary Densham blasts from the starting line at the Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals. Densham covered the quarter-mile strip in 4.889 seconds, 316.97 mph Saturday at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.