TOPEKA, KS – Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton capped an extraordinary calendar year with a triumphant victory at the rain-delayed NHRA Kansas Nationals on Sunday at Heartland Park Topeka.

Since scoring his first career victory in Englishtown, N.J., last June, Crampton has won four times in 24 races — equal to a full season — second only to championship-winning drivers Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown, each of whom has won five times over that span.

“It’s pretty neat to have won four events,” Crampton said. “Top of the moon right now, but I’ve still got a little bit to learn as a new driver. I still consider myself a rookie, but I drive a championship-caliber race car for a championship-caliber team.

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TOPEKA, KS – Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton continued his top-half qualifying streak by speeding to the No. 2 spot at the NHRA Kansas Nationals this weekend at Heartland Park Topeka.

Crampton and his Morgan Lucas Racing team have qualified in the top eight at all eight races of 2015, and the streak extends to 10 through the final two races of 2014.

Crampton’s best run at Heartland Park was 3.744 seconds at 327.66 mph, which was .017-second off the pole-winning elapsed time.

“We’re really happy to be No. 2 right now,” Crampton said. “Obviously, we were swinging for the fence in Q2 and Q3, and we were pretty disappointed that we didn’t get to try that one more time in Q4, but nonetheless we’ve got a good race car for tomorrow.”

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TOPEKA, KS – Heading into this weekend’s NHRA Kansas Nationals, no one in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is happier about the season’s first back-to-back national events than reigning Rookie of the Year Richie Crampton, driver of the 10,000-horsepower Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster.

“I made a huge error Sunday in Atlanta and I desperately want to make things right,” Crampton said. “I couldn’t be happier we’re racing straight away this weekend because I want to put this mistake behind me as quickly as possible.”

It was in the second round at Atlanta Dragway that Crampton left the starting line before the green light, suffering a -.191 red-light disqualification. Making matters worse, his opponent in that round, Larry Dixon, smoked his tires, leaving Crampton feeling as though he let an easy win get away. It was just the second foul start of his career.

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ATLANTA – Second-year Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton gave away a near-certain victory in the quarterfinal round of the 35th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals when he jumped the start against multi-time champion Larry Dixon.

To add to the pain of the red-light disqualification, Dixon would go on to smoke his tires, winning with a very beatable 6.836 at 96.76 mph. Crampton clicked off early when he realized his transgression but still drifted to a 4.390 at 191.29 mph.

“I’m gutted,” Crampton said. “I know Dixon’s a great driver and I wanted to be equal to the task and have a good light (reaction time) but I jumped early. No one to blame but myself. I feel like I let the team down and I let Lucas Oil and all our sponsors down. We should be getting ready for the semifinals right now. Instead, we’re packing for Topeka (Kan.).”

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ATLANTA – Affable Aussie Richie Crampton returns to Atlanta Dragway this weekend in far better shape than he did as a rookie one year ago, making his Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster one to watch at the 35th annual Summit NHRA Southern Nationals.

Crampton, of Adelaide, Australia, was barely getting started when he arrived in the Peach State last season. He had just one round win to his credit and was a distant ninth in the standings, a whopping 356 points behind leader Antron Brown. It wasn’t until later in the year that his Aaron Brooks-led team found a rhythm, eventually bagging a pair of victories and Auto Club Rookie of the Year honors.

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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.

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HOUSTON, TX – Fresh off a victory celebration in Las Vegas, reigning rookie of the year Richie Crampton has his Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster in position to challenge for the title at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals.

Crampton, who is saluting military veterans in his native Australia this weekend with 100th Anniversary ANZAC Day decals on his 300-mph hot rod, has posted three strong passes in time trials, proving he has a consistently quick machine. His best of 3.758 seconds at 323.66 mph earned him the No. 3 spot on the elimination ladder, the “perfect” starting spot in the young Aussie’s opinion.

“Any of the top three spots are great starting points,” Crampton said. “Top qualifiers seem to have had a bit of a bad run lately, so maybe being two or three is better. You get a good ladder of opponents this way, or should I say a better ladder as they’re all very tough at this level.

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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.

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LAS VEGAS – There is no sophomore slump for Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton.

Crampton capped a strong start to his second season with a stirring victory on Sunday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

He secured his first victory of the season after winning at least one round in the previous four races as well as qualifying in the top half in each race to start the year for Morgan Lucas Racing.

“It’s huge,” Crampton said. “Obviously, we want to win right out of the gate, but that hasn’t always been the case for MLR. To win in the fifth event and to go to the final at the Four-Wide Nationals, we’re gathering some good momentum.”

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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.”

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