DALLAS, TX – After qualifying for the Countdown to the Championship in his rookie year, GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton is ready to put himself in title contention at the NHRA FallNationals.

The leading rookie of the year contender wasted no time laying down the law in Q1. With a 3.816-second pass at 319.60 mph on his first trip down Texas Motorplex, Crampton made it known that he was there to win it all.

“Dallas has been good so far,” Crampton said. “We unloaded out of the box strong with a 3.81. Things are looking really good still even if we just slightly missed it on the Friday night session. That was the make-or-break deal where a lot of the other teams were running in the high-3.70 range. We were swinging for the fence as well but didn’t quite make it.

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DALLAS, TX – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton is looking forward to getting back to winning ways at the NHRA FallNationals this weekend at Texas Motorplex.

The U.S. Nationals winner stumbled in the first round last weekend in Charlotte, but Crampton hopes the second race of the Countdown to the Championship will yield better results.

“I’m sure we’ll bounce back in Dallas,” Crampton said. “That racetrack can be very good, so obviously we’re going to try our best to qualify in the top half and get lane choice for race day. There’s no reason why we can’t pick up where we left off in Indy and put Charlotte behind us.”

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CHARLOTTE, NC – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton knows the 2014 championship is still within reach despite a first-round loss at the Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals on Sunday.

Crampton made his best pass of the weekend but still dropped a close race to No. 2 qualifier Steve Torrence in a rematch of the final of the U.S. Nationals, a race Crampton won.

“It wasn’t the weekend we were looking for, but we put up a pretty solid run there,” Crampton said. “It obviously wasn’t enough to get around Steve-O.”

Crampton’s pass was 3.819 seconds at 321.12 mph, bettering his qualifying run, but Torrence’s dragster has been fast all weekend, and his pass of 3.793 seconds at 318.54 mph was enough to knock out Crampton.

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CHARLOTTE, NC – Nothing can diminish the confidence of GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton after winning the U.S. Nationals two weeks ago, so even though the leading rookie of the year contender qualified No. 15 for the Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals, he remains hopeful for a better showing in eliminations.

“Tomorrow’s another day, for sure,” Crampton said. “Hopefully, it’s going to be a little cooler, and we know we can run well. We’ve just had some unusual luck here during qualifying. As with everyone, it’s kind of a tricky racetrack when it’s this hot.

“(Crew chief) Aaron Brooks loves this racetrack. I’m still pretty confident, even though we qualified 15th. We haven’t lost it completely since last week, so we’ll be all right.”

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CHARLOTTE, NC – Lucas Oil/GEICO Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas returns to Charlotte to defend his race victory at this weekend’s Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals.

Lucas debuted a new car in Charlotte for the first race of the 2013 Countdown to the Championship, and all he did was qualify No. 1 and beat Terry McMillen, Brandon Bernstein, Doug Kalitta, and Spencer Massey to capture his second victory of the season.

“That was really our weekend,” Lucas said. “We’d just finished a new car and it performed flawlessly all weekend. The guys put in a lot of work before the race to get it ready, and it was great to be able to deliver a win for them.”

The victory helped propel Lucas to a fourth-place finish in the Top Fuel points standings, but he doesn’t have to worry about points this weekend. Lucas is racing a part-time schedule this season, stepping back to become more involved in his family’s business, Lucas Oil Products, and to spend more time with wife Katie and newborn son Hunter.

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CHARLOTTE, NC – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton, still on a high from winning the U.S. Nationals, heads to Charlotte for the Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals with another goal in mind.

The Countdown to the Championship begins in Charlotte, and while the rookie is focused on this race, he’s clearly a contender for the 2014 Top Fuel season title.

“It seems weird for me to talk about a championship as a rookie driver,” Crampton said. “We want to finish out the year strongly for everyone involved, and I’ve got my eyes set on the rookie of the year award. That’s priority, but if we can keep this race car running like Aaron has it running right now, we should be able to continue to go rounds in the Countdown and put a real dent on the top 10. We’ll see where we end up.”

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – One year ago, Top Fuel rookie Richie Crampton was a crewmember for Morgan Lucas Racing that thought he was living the dream when he was asked to fill in and test a dragster for MLR driver Brandon Bernstein. This Monday at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, Crampton was crowned champion of the 60th annual U.S. Nationals, making him the newest king of the drag racing world.

“Just like so many things that have happened to me this year, I can hardly believe what’s going on,” Crampton said. “I’m the luckiest guy in the world, bar none. Just to be driving a Top Fuel car is the dream come true for me. Then we were the 100th different Top Fuel winner in Englishtown (N.J.), and now we’ve won the 60th annual U.S. Nationals. That’s two pretty historical moments we got to be a part of.

“After Englishtown I sat down and looked at the 99 other drivers that have won Top Fuel races in the NHRA, and it was so humbling to think I was a part of that group. I’m going to find time to look at all the Indy winners and I’m sure I’ll have the same feeling. This is crazy stuff for a kid from Adelaide (Australia). I’m a long way from home.”

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Just having a good showing in his first-ever U.S. Nationals would be reward enough for rookie Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton, of Adelaide, Australia. But now that the driver of the powerful GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster already has a runner-up finish in the one-off Traxxas Shootout and a top-four qualifying effort of 3.772 seconds at 324.20 mph, the new father is starting to dream a little bigger.

“This weekend is huge on so many levels,” said Crampton, who served as a crewmember for seven years before being handed the keys to the 10,000-horsepower dragster. “It’s a big milestone for me as a rookie driver just to compete at the U.S. Nationals. It’s something I dreamed about as a kid back in Australia, so to get here and to be driving a really good hot rod for GEICO and Lucas Oil and Toyota, it’s hard to describe.

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton didn’t drive like a rookie on Saturday.

Crampton, the leading contender for the NHRA rookie of the year award, raced to the final round of the NHRA Traxxas Shootout at Lucas Oil Raceway before falling to Tony Schumacher. And in doing so, Crampton secured the provisional No. 4 qualifying spot for the prestigious Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

“I’m extremely grateful that we got the opportunity to run for the money that Traxxas puts up,” Crampton said. “It was a heck of a day for the GEICO team, and it meant a lot to me to get in one of these Shootouts. The Big Bud Shootout, the Traxxas Shootout, all those Shootouts over the years, they’re very prestigious. I’m honored to have had my opportunity to run for it.”

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton grew up halfway around the world from Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, but he knew all about the U.S. Nationals, so the 34-year-old from Adelaide, Australia, is as pumped up as anyone to be able to compete in the 60th annual Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals this weekend.

“I was absolutely fully aware of ‘the Big Go’ in Australia and what the U.S. Nationals means,” Crampton said. “It’s an historic, prestigious race and it’s in our backyard. It’s definitely a hometown race at Lucas Oil Raceway, and it’s the biggest drag race of the year for NHRA.

“Even last year when I went to get my Top Fuel license, driving down that dragstrip in Indianapolis was like driving in hallowed ground. I got a lot of those feelings again when we were testing last week. It’s very exciting and a pretty big deal to me to be able to compete at the U.S. Nationals in Indy.”

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