Richie Crampton exits U.S. Nationals in second round

INDIANAPOLIS – Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton was hoping to repeat his 2014 win at the prestigious U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis but it was not to be.

Crampton faced teammate Morgan Lucas in the second round of eliminations and went down in a fight to the finish. Lucas turned in a slightly better reaction time and enjoyed a minor holeshot, but Crampton’s car was ahead at the 330-foot mark. Lucas fought back and was ahead of Crampton at the 660-foot mark. With both cars hazing the tires at the top end, Lucas’ car hit the stripe first and lit the win light.

If you have to lose, perhaps it hurts slightly less if your teammate puts you on the trailer.

“In the big picture, it was the Lucas Oil car going rounds whether it’s Morgan or my own,” said Crampton. “I’d really love to see Morgan win this thing. I know how much this race means to him. He’s an Indianapolis boy at his hometown track at Lucas Oil Raceway. I wanted to win that with him, being his crewmember for the past 10 years, so hopefully we can finish it off today.

“It really didn’t have any points implications. We were locked in third place. We couldn’t do any better or worse.

“It’s great having my parents in from Australia. My mom, unfortunately, did not make the trip to Brainerd a couple weeks ago for our victory. We were hoping to do it again this weekend but it wasn’t to be. Nonetheless it’s been great having them here. That brightens your day after you get beat like I just did.”

For the record books, Lucas ran 3.902 seconds at 297.42 mph (with a reaction time of .063) to Crampton’s 3.899 seconds at 301.62 mph (with a reaction time of .078).

After battling the weekend heat and qualifying 14th, the Australian and his new Morgan Lucas Racing car met Steve Torrence in the first round of eliminations on Monday. Crampton pulled a holeshot on Torrence, who then began smoking his tires at the 200-foot point. Torrence pedaled the car, but his tires began spinning again. Crampton had a good lead by this time until suffering a supercharger explosion with approximately 200 feet to go. Crampton’s car coasted across the finish line ahead of Torrence to advance to the second round.

Crampton will enter the Countdown to the Championship, which begins Sept. 18-20 in Charlotte, N.C., locked in third place in Top Fuel points.