Richie Crampton, Lucas Oil team ready to finish the job in Sonoma
SONOMA, CA – Richie Crampton and the Lucas Oil Top Fuel team left the mountain in Denver not knowing they 
would face a mountain of trouble this weekend during the NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.
Crampton did snare the No. 8 qualifying spot with a scintillating run in the first qualifying session, but subsequent passes came up just a bit short.
“A 3.77 in Q1 was a good start to the weekend,” Crampton said, “and then we’ve had a few stumbling blocks along the way after that.”
Crampton’s pass of 3.777 at 324.20 mph in Q1 was among the quickest in the Top Fuel class for the session. In the other three sessions, his Lucas Oil dragster was making good runs until the top end.
“We’re showing good promise with the early numbers on every run,” Crampton said. “We just need to make it all hang together until the finish line and we’ll be all right.”
The Friday night session, Q2, had spectacular conditions for quick passes, and Crampton was making what could have been a 3.72-second run when an explosion ruined what should have been a top-three pass.
“Last night in Q2, I was running down there as good as possibly a .73 or .72,” Crampton said. “I felt it drop a cylinder getting down there close to the finish line — at least what I thought was dropping a cylinder. Turns out it was pushing the head gaskets out and eventually lifted the blower off the thing.
“It was a pretty big bang when it went off, and obviously you don’t want to do that too often. The boys did a great job putting it all back together late Friday night, and we were back to where we needed to be this morning.”
Crampton was also on good runs in Q3 and Q4 before having to slow just before the finish line. Still, he’s confident his Morgan Lucas Racing team can step it up in their first-round race with No. 9 qualifier Spencer Massey (3.780 seconds at 324.67 mph).
“This Lucas Oil team is the best out here,” Crampton said. “We know we can win some rounds Sunday. We’re just trying to work through it right now.”
