ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – Eight Top Fuel races into his career, GEICO/Lucas Oil driver Richie Crampton feels right at home in the cockpit of his Morgan Lucas Racing dragster.

As Crampton heads to the Toyota NHRA Summernationals this weekend at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, driving the powerful car has become second-nature.

“I’m really comfortable driving the race car,” Crampton said. “I’m still kind of overthinking a lot of stuff on the starting line. I’m trying to get back into some type of rhythm with my reaction times and staging procedure. The more runs I get, the more comfortable I’m going to get.”

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TOPEKA, KS – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton will head home to his newborn daughter Emma with a smile on his face after a solid weekend during the NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Crampton, whose daughter was born last Tuesday, made three consecutive 3.8-second passes, winning in the first round Sunday for his second round-win of the season. He made another good run in the second round but couldn’t get past J.R. Todd.

“It’s great to get my second first-round win of the year,” Crampton said. “And not only that, but we ran good on our final qualifying session and made two good runs today in eliminations.

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TOPEKA, KS – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton knows it’s only a matter of time before his Morgan Lucas Racing team puts it all together on race day, and this weekend’s NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka would be a great place because Crampton would be able to share the Wally with newborn daughter Emma.

“That would be a great gift for both of us,” Crampton said.

Emma Kathleen Crampton was born Tuesday to Crampton and girlfriend Stephanie Laski. While mom and daughter are home in Indianapolis, Crampton has raced to the No. 10 qualifying position at Heartland Park, putting down a decent run in the final qualifying session.

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CARMEL, IN – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton and girlfriend Stephanie Laski welcomed their first child into the world Tuesday afternoon.

Emma Kathleen Crampton, 8 pounds, 13 ounces, was born at 3:59 p.m. at IU Health North Hospital. Both baby and mother are doing well.

“Well, we’re now parents!” Crampton said. “Everyone is doing great. It’s a new chapter in our lives, and Stephanie and I are excited to be parents.”

Crampton, 33, is a rookie in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. A native of Australia, Crampton moved to the United States 10 years ago to pursue his dream of driving a Top Fuel dragster.

Now an American citizen, Crampton got the opportunity to drive Morgan Lucas Racing’s car this season.

TOPEKA, KS – Top Fuel rookie Richie Crampton may be a bit blurry-eyed when he arrives in Kansas for this weekend’s NHRA national event as he and longtime girlfriend Stefanie Laski plan to induce the birth of daughter Emma Kathleen this week to avoid any conflicts with Crampton’s racing schedule. But tired or not, the GEICO/Lucas Oil-sponsored pro says he’ll be ready to fight for the trophy.

“Topeka is normally a great race for this team,” Crampton said. “The weather is usually fairly warm, and that typically levels the playing field a lot because you can’t just pound all of your horsepower into the track. The crew chiefs have to find a way to finesse it down the strip.

“I’ve never raced Topeka as a driver before, but I’m excited to get out there and compete in the heartland of America. Heartland Park Topeka is a legendary racetrack and I know the first NHRA national event ever was held in Kansas, so even a kid from Adelaide, South Australia, knows how special racing in this state is for all of us.”

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ATLANTA, GA – Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton and the GEICO/Lucas Oil team are ready for the challenge of racing a world champion in the first round of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals on Sunday at Atlanta Dragway.

Crampton snared the No. 9 qualifying spot Saturday and will square off against defending NHRA Mello Yello champion Shawn Langdon in what promises to be a compelling first-round race.

“Racing the Al-Anabi team with one of the best drivers – the reigning world champion – in the driver’s seat, we’re going to have to be on point,” Crampton said. “The car’s going to have to run good, and I’m going to have to drive good. There’s definitely some pressure there to do a better job on my end of things on the staring line.

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ATLANTA, GA – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton and his cell phone will be attached at the hip during this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

That’s because in addition to his regular driving duties, Crampton will be eagerly awaiting word on girlfriend Stephanie Laski, who is due to deliver the couple’s first child later this month.

“I’ll absolutely be keeping my phone on me at all times,” Crampton said. “Any day now, our little baby girl could be here. It’s going to be a unique situation. I’m going to be paying close attention to what’s going on at home, but there’s a pretty big task at hand, and that’s trying to win some rounds in Atlanta and get our way out of that ninth position in points.”

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HOUSTON, TX – Nobody promised rookie Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton that driving the 8,000-horsepower GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster would be easy, and through six races he has learned quickly that old adage is ringing true.

Crampton had a decent weekend at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals in Baytown, Texas, earning the provisional pole in the nitro-fueled category for the first time in his brief career. But with temperatures remaining at 80-plus degrees, Crampton’s race car became finicky, and although he made a solid run in a Round 1 matchup with Brittany Force, he had to accept his fifth first-round loss.

“This is starting to hurt,” Crampton admitted. “I knew coming into the year that there would be growing pains with me being a rookie, but I also knew this has been a contending race team for several years in a row. I figured we’d be up to speed really quick.

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HOUSTON, TX – GEICO/Lucas Oil driver Richie Crampton hasn’t lost any confidence in his Morgan Lucas Racing team despite not being able to hold on to his provisional No. 1 after the second qualifying session of the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals on Friday.

Crampton ended up No. 9 after a topsy-turvy Saturday and will square off against defending rookie-of-the-year Brittany Force in the first round of eliminations Sunday.

“We were hoping to stay No. 1 after running so good Friday night,” Crampton said. “The weather came around and made it good for everyone to try and step it up and they did. That just goes to show how tough Top Fuel is right now.

“We didn’t have the best day today but we’ll keep our heads high, and I think we’ll have a good race car for tomorrow. I’m pretty excited to go racing.”

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HOUSTON, TX – The wait was worth it for GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton.

Crampton made a strong pass early in the second qualifying session on Friday, recording a 3.807 at 322.11 mph. He then had to wait out a long delay while the NHRA Safety Safari cleaned the track before the Top Fuel session ended, but 45 minutes and four cars later, Crampton still had the provisional No. 1 spot for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals.

“That was a long time waiting to hear how that final two pairs of race cars were going to fare,” Crampton said. “I was really hoping that we could hang on to that No. 1 spot, and it worked out in our favor.”

Crampton didn’t figure his pass would hold up because temperatures were dropping as the night wore on.

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