Final qualifying pass has Lucas Oil’s Richie Crampton poised for strong Las Vegas run

LAS VEGAS – Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton will enter the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals on Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the quickest racer in the field.

No, he’s not the No. 1 qualifier in Top Fuel, but he was the quickest driver in the final qualifying session on Saturday.

“That was an awesome run on a hot racetrack,” Crampton said. “(Crew chief) Aaron Brooks and the entire Lucas Oil team are doing a fantastic job. It gives us a big boost going into race day by finishing out qualifying strong like that.”

The Q4 pass was 3.833 seconds at 321.12 mph, which was quicker than the 16 other Top Fuel cars on the property. It also capped four solid passes in qualifying, as only one was short of a full pull. His official qualifying lap was 3.787 seconds at 316.67 mph, but he also recorded another run of 3.850 at 318.02 mph.

His other qualifying run was aborted just short of the finish line, 4.154 seconds at 217.91 mph, but the Morgan Lucas Racing dragster has been remarkably consistent this weekend.

“It’s huge,” Crampton said. “It gives everyone confidence and gives us a lot of good data in the bank for us to work off of tomorrow when it counts. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee anything tomorrow, but it’s definitely how you want to start race day.”

Crampton will square off against Troy Buff in the first round of eliminations. Buff qualified No. 12 with a pass of 3.879 seconds at 307.02 mph.

“I’ve got a huge amount of confidence in the entire team,” Crampton said. “I’m just really happy with the way everything is going today.”

Crampton started his weekend in Las Vegas by going to the Children’s Hospital of Nevada at University Medical Center Hospital on Thursday, visiting with several children and interacting with hospital staff. Dressed in his Lucas Oil uniform, Crampton was greeted with smiles by many of the kids.

“That was something pretty special,” Crampton said. “A lot of families and kids there are going through some rough times, so it’s fun to try to lift their spirits and talk about something a little different, which in our case is NHRA drag racing. I really enjoyed my time there. They had a wonderful, caring staff who made it fun for myself and the kids.”