Lucas Oil’s Richie Crampton climbs to top of Top Fuel mountain in Seattle
SEATTLE – The commemorative event pin for this weekend’s NHRA Northwest Nationals has a likeness of Mount 
Rainier, the 14,410-foot peak within eyesight of Pacific Raceways.
Lucas Oil driver Richie Crampton stood atop the Top Fuel mountain after a pass of 3.727 seconds at 323.50 mph earned him the No. 1 qualifying spot on Saturday.
Crampton was quickest in both sessions on the final day of qualifying, including a track-record pass recorded as the final pair of Top Fuel cars made their runs.
“You can’t do much better than what we did today,” Crampton said. “It’s a credit to (crew chief) Aaron Brooks and the team.”
Crampton was quickest in three of the four qualifying sessions this weekend and third in the other. He was sitting in the staging lanes when Tony Schumacher made a 3.73-second pass to go to No. 1.
“When Schumacher ran .73 right in front of me and Aaron reached in and hit a few more buttons and turned a few more knobs, I knew I was probably going to be in for a ride,” Crampton said. “To run .72 and get around his .73 was pretty strong.”
The No. 1 qualifier was Crampton’s second of his young career and his first this season. He has won three times in 2015 to add to his career total of five, though Crampton and his Morgan Lucas Racing team ran into a mini-slump since winning in Bristol.
Crampton failed to qualify in Bristol and then won two rounds over the next three races.
“We did struggle a few races, but the team has put in the hours to figure every single thing out,” Crampton said. “We’ve got our old race car back.
“We started the year good and have had some rough points, but we are trying to peak at the right time. We’re trying to finish off this Western Swing strong. Being No. 1 is good, but we’ll see what happens on race day tomorrow.”
Crampton starts Sunday against Ron Smith, who qualified No. 16 with a best pass of 4.189 seconds at 257.24 mph.
The quick speeds in Seattle are somewhat of a surprise, though milder temperatures have allowed for fast runs. The national record of 3.701 seconds set by Antron Brown in Reading, Pa., in 2012 could be in jeopardy soon.
“I really hope that Aaron Brooks can be the first crew chief out here to tune a Top Fuel dragster that runs a 3.6,” Crampton said. “He deserves it, and we all know he swings for the fence when the weather’s like this. Hopefully, we’ll get another opportunity here soon to try and give Aaron and my Lucas Oil team the opportunity.”
