Lucas Oil’s Richie Crampton gunning for second Top Fuel win in a row

HOUSTON – Fresh off his first victory of the 2015 season, Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton will be looking to win back-to-back races for the first time in his young career at this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals.

Crampton secured his third career victory in stellar fashion at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on April 12, moving up to fifth in the Top Fuel points standings, but the second-year driver is less than two rounds out of first place.

“I’m extremely excited with how our 2015 season is looking,” Crampton said. “Aaron Brooks and the team have got a really consistent, good race car. It’s exciting to start out the year like this.

“It’s absolutely a lot more comfortable the second time around. I know it’s my sophomore season, but a lot of times I forget that I’m still so new to this. I’m getting more and more comfortable every week and trying to focus on doing a good job of driving that race car.”

The higher comfort level is reflected in his quick start, as Crampton has won at least one round in all five races, reaching the final at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte and winning in Las Vegas. Plus, he has qualified in the top half of the field at all five races.

What makes his start all the more remarkable is the increased competition in the Top Fuel class.

“There is no easy side of the ladder and there are no easy rounds,” Crampton said. “Anyone can win in 2015, it seems like. It makes everyone dig that much deeper and try that much harder, knowing that every guy you line up against can send you home on race day. It’s an amazing amount of competition, and the level all the teams have risen to this year is unparalleled.”

But Crampton and his Morgan Lucas Racing team have stepped up their game and clearly are contenders for the 2015 championship.

“As you can see, the top five in the points are bunched up by less than two rounds,” Crampton said. “If you got to the U.S. Nationals at Indy with the points standings as tight as they are right now, it could make a world of difference if you start in the second, third, fourth, fifth position in points based upon one bad round of racing earlier in the season.

“As close as the points are going to stay, I believe, having early momentum like this and being within striking distance of those top few positions is key to having a good Countdown.”

Crampton would like to keep the positive momentum rolling through the middle part of the season, and repeating his Las Vegas performance would go a long way toward that end.

“I believe the key to success in Houston is possibly going to be (crew chief) Aaron Brooks’ way of running our race car on a hot racetrack as of late,” Crampton said. “The temperature is probably going to be fairly warm in Houston, and we may see some tricky track conditions. The key to success is going to be getting your race car to go from A to B on that hot track surface.”

Qualifying sessions are scheduled for 4:30 and 7 p.m. CT, Friday, and 1 and 4 p.m., Saturday. Final eliminations will start at approximately 11 a.m., Sunday. Saturday qualifying will be broadcasted at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and Sunday’s elimination action will be aired live beginning at 2 p.m.