GEICO/Lucas Oil
Leading rookie Crampton speeds to provisional No. 1 in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS – GEICO/Lucas Oil driver Richie Crampton hopes to finish the job in qualifying this time.
Crampton has been the provisional No. 1 qualifier twice this season, only to lose the top spot in the final two sessions each time.
He snared the provisional No. 1 for the NHRA Toyota Nationals on Friday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a stellar run of 3.764 seconds at 322.42 mph.
“It’s pretty exciting to leave here Friday night sitting on the top of the ladder,” Crampton said. “We’ve done that before and ended up getting bumped on Saturday, so we’ll see how tomorrow pans out.”
Crampton still has sights set on NHRA Road to the Future Award
LAS VEGAS – With two races remaining in the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season, GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver 
Richie Crampton remains the leading contender for the sport’s rookie of the year award.
Headed to the NHRA Toyota Nationals this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Crampton leads all rookies with two victories, capped by a win at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
He’s the only rookie in the ultra-competitive Top Fuel class to reach the Countdown to the Championship, and he’d love to close out the season by winning the Road to the Future Award.
Crampton crushes champ with career-best run before bowing to Force in Reading
READING, PA – Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton bolstered his rookie-of-the-year bid with a huge first-round defeat of reigning series 
champion Shawn Langdon Sunday morning at Maple Grove Raceway. It was the fourth time in five head-to-head meetings that Crampton has beaten the 2013 champ, a mark the first-year driver of the GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster finds hard to believe.
“It’s pretty wild that we’ve had some of our biggest round-wins against the guy that won it all last year,” Crampton said. “Credit Aaron Brooks and the guys for getting after it this morning when the conditions were so perfect. It is very difficult to beat that team and I feel fortunate to have gotten past Shawn because he’s one of the best in the world.”
Crampton draws defending world champ Langdon in Reading’s opening round
READING, PA – A blustery and cold final day of professional qualifying at Maple Grove Raceway caused fits for rookie Top Fuel driver Richie 
Crampton and his GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster team. In the end, his first qualifying attempt of 3.814 seconds at 317.49 mph posted early Friday afternoon was his best, earning the popular Australian the No. 10 starting spot when eliminations begin Sunday morning.
“It was decent to run that 3.81 right out of the box,” Crampton said. “It really got the weekend off to a good start and alleviated any extra pressure you have when the weather forecast is iffy. Fortunately, we got all four qualifying passes in but you never know when its this time of the year and you’re in Reading.
Can Crampton continue to add his name to NHRA record book?
READING, PA – GEICO/Lucas Oil driver Richie Crampton has already put his name in the record book by winning this year’s U.S. Nationals. 
Now, he wants to add his name in another category: Quickest elapsed time in Top Fuel history.
Crampton will get that chance during the NHRA Nationals this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway.
Maple Grove is home to the two quickest runs in Top Fuel history, with Antron Brown holding the national record of 3.701 seconds set in 2012, and Crampton would love to see his name atop that particular list.
U.S. Nationals champ Crampton drops close first-round match in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS – A not so funny thing happened as GEICO/Lucas Oil driver Richie Crampton was cruising to a first-round victory at the NHRA 
Midwest Nationals on Sunday at Gateway Motorsports Park.
The engine in his Morgan Lucas Racing Top Fuel dragster shut off about 300 feet short of the finish line, and Crampton was an upset victim to No. 15 qualifier Kyle Wurtzel.
“We just tried to make an A-to-B run and not get too crazy,” Crampton said. “The thing wasn’t going to set the world on fire, but it was going to be a nice, clean run. Apparently, something shut the ignition and fuel pump off at 700 feet. We were coasting through the lights. Subsequently, he was able to get around us. It’s pretty disappointing.”
Déjà vu in St. Louis could lead to Crampton’s third career win
ST. LOUIS – As much as he wanted his first career No. 1 qualifier, GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton can’t help but remember 
the last time he found himself seeded No. 2: He went on to win his first career race in Englishtown, N.J.
Hoping to repeat that success during the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park, the top rookie of the year contender is more than ready to get eliminations underway.
Laying down a blistering pass under the lights at Gateway Motorsports Park during Q2 of 3.764 seconds at 322.73 mph, Crampton held the No. 1 spot heading into the second day of qualifying but was dropped to No. 2 after Q4.
Crampton hopes to add No. 1 qualifier to already impressive rookie resume
ST. LOUIS – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton has already accomplished a lot in his rookie season, but he’d love to add a No. 1 
qualifier to his impressive resume.
Crampton, winner of the U.S. Nationals and one other NHRA race in 2014, sped to the provisional No. 1 for the NHRA Midwest Nationals on Friday at Gateway Motorsports Park.
“Hopefully, I can hold on to that and get my first No. 1 qualifying position for the season,” Crampton said. “It would be huge. That’s one of the things I haven’t been able to do yet this year, and I’m pretty excited about the way we ran tonight.”
After recording the sixth-quickest pass in the first qualifying session Friday, Crampton ran a 3.764 at 322.73 mph to jump to the No. 1 spot.
Crampton has winning on his mind in remaining Countdown races
ST. LOUIS, IL – The Countdown to the Championship hasn’t started the way U.S. Nationals champion Richie Crampton wanted, but the 
GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver knows there is plenty of time left in the 2014 season to do some more damage.
Crampton, a two-time winner in his rookie season, enters the NHRA Midwest Nationals this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park ninth in the Top Fuel points standings, but four races remain for Crampton and the Morgan Lucas Racing team to make up some ground.
“We were disappointed with a first-round loss in Dallas, but there are still four races left to try to win,” Crampton said. “The Countdown is not over yet, and there’s a lot of shuffling going on right now within the top 10. It’s not over until it’s over.”
Lightning-quick start doesn’t translate to victory for Aussie Crampton
DALLAS, TX – Richie Crampton was certainly ready for Sunday’s elimination rounds at the 29th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals, peeling off 
a best-of-the-year .052-second reaction time against first-round opponent Spencer Massey. But the early lead soon evaporated when his huge rear tires lost traction in the tricky right-hand lane, allowing Massey by for a 3.831-second, 321.27-mph victory.
“It’s really hot out there and the track just didn’t want to hold what we gave it,” said Crampton, who crossed the timers with a resigned 4.755 at 161.67 mph. “The car launched hard and I couldn’t see Spencer, so I knew we were ahead but then the tires started spinning. I grabbed the brake and pedaled as quickly as I could, and the car actually hooked back up, but Spencer was too far ahead at that point.
