Lucas Oil pro Richie Crampton nipped at the finish line in Houston
HOUSTON, TX – A hero one race ago in Las Vegas when he won the event, Richie Crampton and his Lucas Oil Top 
Fuel team snapped back to reality Sunday morning at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals when he lost by a slender margin, 3.751 to 3.756 seconds, to veteran Clay Millican.
The race was as close as the numbers indicate with Millican just a fraction better, even with his parachutes prematurely deploying right before the finish line. Adding to the pain, Crampton was accessed an oildown penalty after his motor released some Lucas Oil onto the track surface during the pass.
“I gave him a head start at the line, which only added to the performance advantage they had on us in that round,” Crampton said. “Everyone ran their best pass of the weekend just now. The conditions and traction were absolutely better than we’ve seen. We probably should have run a few hundredths (of a second) quicker, but we dropped a few cylinders downtrack and that was it.
“I knew Clay was out there. I couldn’t see him but I could hear him, so I knew he was right next door. After winning Vegas and picking right up here and having a great qualifying effort, it’s definitely disappointing to be out after Round 1. Drag racing is brutal like that.”
The NHRA tour takes two weeks off before racing again May 15-17 at Atlanta Raceway in Commerce, Ga.
“We’ll head back to Indy and perform all the routine maintenance we normally do with the car,” Crampton said. “The guys will have a chance to relax for a day or two with their families, which will re-energize everyone, and we’ll start prepping for Atlanta.
“Our team owner and teammate Morgan Lucas is racing in Atlanta, so it’ll get busy when the event nears as we get both cars squared away. Morgan’s won that race before, so we have plenty of good data. We’ll try to get back to our winning ways.
“Hat’s off to Aaron Brooks and the guys. The work they do is just as tough whether we win or lose, and I’m going to be right next to them today as we break down the car and the pit and pack up.”
