Crampton shows veteran poise during Gainesville race day

GAINESVILLE, FL – Lucas Oil/GEICO Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton put in another solid performance during the NHRA Gatornationals to remain a career-best sixth in the points standings.

Starting the day off paired up against No. 9 qualifier Steve Torrence in the first round of eliminations, Crampton made his best run of the weekend to advance with a 3.783-second pass at 320.05 mph, compared to Torrence’s 3.859-second pass at 321.81 mph.

“It was great to get another first-round win this year,” Crampton said. “Obviously, first-round wins can really help you out in the points standings. It also helped build some good momentum for us going into the second round.”

Meeting Shawn Langdon for the second time in the second round this season, Crampton knew what to expect this time around. After leaving the line first with a .076 reaction time compared to Langdon’s .080, Crampton was looking to build a gap and punch his ticket to the semifinals. However, a dropped cylinder slowed Crampton down, allowing Langdon’s pass of 3.830 seconds to beat out Crampton’s 3.866.

“It’s a small victory for me to leave on someone like Shawn Langdon,” Crampton said. “I was .076 to his .080, so he was actually a little bit slower than normal and I was just a tad better than I had been this weekend. But while it was definitely a good feeling to leave on him, he had quickly gotten by us at half-track after that. It happens though.

“We were on a hell of a good pass until we dropped that cylinder and had some issues after that. We have our head held high though. It was a good weekend; no complaints here.”

Crampton will look to continue his consistency when the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series heads to Charlotte for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, March 27-29.