CHICAGO, IL – With momentum on his side, GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton is ready to make his Chicago debut this weekend at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals, June 26-29, at Route 66 Raceway.

After adding another semifinal appearance under his career belt last weekend, Crampton is looking to continue the success and capture another event win. And racing at a track where the GEICO/Lucas Oil team has had much success, the possibility of his second career victory coming in Chicago is highly possible.

“The entire team is pretty excited to get to Chicago,” Crampton said. “Last year as a team we qualified No. 1 with Morgan Lucas. Unfortunately we lost in the first round that day, but nonetheless we qualified No. 1, which is definitely an accomplishment.

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EPPING, NH – Richie Crampton powered his GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster to the semifinals at the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway on Sunday.

After qualifying third, Crampton had good fortune in the first round when he and opponent Dom Lagana lost a cylinder early in the match and Crampton’s 4.028 at 300.20 mph was just enough to move on to the second round.

In round two, Crampton faced off against Spencer Massey and won on a holeshot with a .075-second reaction time compared to Massey’s .088. Crampton recorded a 3.800 at 325.14 mph to reach the semifinals.

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EPPING, NH – Even though this may be his first season as a driver, GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel racer Richie Crampton looked like a professional after consistently fast qualifying sessions all weekend for the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.

After momentarily holding a new track record and the top qualifying spot in Q1, Crampton’s pass of 3.774 seconds at 324.50 mph landed him in the No. 3 position overall for Sunday’s final eliminations. He will line up alongside No. 14 qualifier Dom Lagana in round one of eliminations.

“It was a pretty good feeling to run so good right out the box,” Crampton said. “We missed picking up a little bit more Friday night. However, that Q1 run was pretty impressive and I’m pretty happy with that. That run has given us a good head start for eliminations Sunday. It’s always good to qualify well, and we’ve done that this weekend. Hopefully that means it will be a good race day as well.”

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EPPING, NH – For a rookie who is new to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton has already won in New Jersey.

Can he win in New Hampshire, too?

That’s the goal when Crampton and his Morgan Lucas Racing team compete at the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals this weekend at New England Dragway.

“Let’s hope the East Coast continues to be good to me,” Crampton said. “The NEW Jersey and NEW Hampshire connection might be something good for us. We’ll see.

“We know how good (crew chief) Aaron Brooks and this GEICO team are. We’ll keep pressing on, and I know good things are coming.”

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BRISTOL, TN – GEICO/Lucas Oil driver Richie Crampton may have qualified No. 13 for the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals on Saturday at Bristol Dragway, but he’s still feeling lucky.

Why? Because the rookie from Australia is coming off his first Top Fuel victory, which he scored two weeks ago in Englishtown, N.J. This weekend in Bristol, Crampton is still receiving well-wishes.

“It’s been great having the support of a lot of my friends and racers out here, coming and congratulating the team and (crew chief) Aaron (Brooks) for the great job they did, as well as patting me on the back and congratulating me for my first win,” Crampton said. “It’s been a pretty enjoyable weekend so far.”

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BRISTOL, TN – With the reality of winning his first NHRA Top Fuel race finally sinking in, GEICO/Lucas Oil driver Richie Crampton is ready to win some more.

After scoring in Englishtown, N.J., on June 1, the rookie from Australia gets his chance at back-to-back victories at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals this weekend at Bristol Dragway.

“It’s the ultimate confidence booster for myself and the team,” Crampton said of the win. “I think everyone kind of took a little leap of faith when I was given this position to drive for Morgan Lucas Racing, so I think this makes everyone feel a little better about the decision and at least they can see that there’s definitely some more potential. It’s a great feeling and everyone at MLR is on cloud nine right now.”

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – Morgan Lucas is making a habit of taking the Lucas Oil/GEICO Top Fuel dragster to the semifinals.

Lucas is racing a part-time schedule in 2014, but that hasn’t slowed him down. He raced to the semifinals of the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals on Sunday at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park before falling to Doug Kalitta.

That’s the second semifinal in as many races for Lucas this season, following his similar finish in Gainesville, Fla., earlier this year.

“With a part-time car, anything you get is a bonus, especially on race day,” Lucas said. “To only run two races so far this year and reach the final four in both events, that’s special. I can’t think of too many part-time teams that can pull that off. It shows people we’re here and we’re serious contenders with the primary car. Believe me, people notice that stuff.”

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – Top Fuel newcomer Richie Crampton gave his Rookie of the Year bid a giant boost Sunday by winning the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. Crampton beat points leader Doug Kalitta in a thrilling final round, 3.819 to 3.848, becoming just the second Australian-born pro winner in NHRA history.

“Has this really happened?” Crampton said. “I’m absolutely over the moon with this win. I already know I’m the luckiest guy in the pit and now we’ve proven it. This is beyond anything I could have ever imagined to go from a crew guy to standing here with a Wally (trophy) in just a few months time.

“I’m so humbled that GEICO, Lucas Oil, and Toyota showed faith in me and gave me this awesome opportunity. I’m really quite stunned at the moment.”

Adding a special twist to the occasion, Crampton’s father Al was on the starting line for the memorable moment. Crampton’s parents are visiting from Adelaide, South Australia, primarily to help with new baby girl Emma, whom Crampton and his longtime girlfriend Stephanie Laski welcomed into the world on May 20th.

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – After a promising two days of qualifying action, both Hector Arana Sr. and his youngest son Adam were unceremoniously dumped in Sunday’s first round of eliminations at the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

Hector, the 2009 world champion, had a rare -.124 red-light start on his Lucas Oil Buell that ended his race at the starting line and immediately gave opponent Chaz Kennedy the victory.

A few pairs later, Adam had an even tougher situation to deal with as his ProtectTheHarvest.com Buell failed to start for the burnout, giving Andrew Hines a solo pass for the win.

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ENGLISHTOWN, NJ – Rookie pilot Richie Crampton of the GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster team used the fastest pass of his brief career to lock up the lofty No. 2 position on the elimination ladder at the 45th annual Toyota NHRA Summernationals.

The young Australian streaked to a top speed of 326.95 mph during a stellar 3.750-second pass, good enough to push aside reigning world champion Shawn Langdon for second place on the grid. He trails only Doug Kalitta, who was a scant .002-second ahead in first.

“We feel as though we really turned a corner with the race car last weekend in Kansas and that just continued here in New Jersey,” Crampton said. “What’s crazy about drag racing is we’re not doing anything different as far as work and effort, but suddenly all the little things are falling our way. We couldn’t be happier.

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