Top Fuel pro points to Brainerd as biggest race for Lucas Oil race team

BRAINERD, MN – The NHRA’s annual visit to northern Minnesota always is a welcome stop on the 23-race pro tour, but for Lucas Oil Top Fuel racer Richie Crampton, the 34th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals is the biggest race of the season.

“Racing in Brainerd is huge to the entire Morgan Lucas Racing team and any Lucas Oil car, for that matter,” Crampton said. “Particularly for me, driving for the Lucas family and coming back to a racetrack where the Lucas team has had a lot of success — and also where we have a lot of fun with the amazing fans — is very exciting. It’s one of the highlights of the tour for the Lucas team.”

Crampton, a sophomore driver with five wins to his credit, including three this year, knows winning at Brainerd International Raceway is within the team’s grasp. He also knows a fourth victory in the regular season would go a long way towards prepping them for a successful playoff run with the postseason just two races away.

“Our focus is on race day consistency and not trying to change too much,” said the 31-year-old from Adelaide, Australia. “We have a good race car right now, and we need to focus on every little detail and continue doing what we’ve been doing. The entire team is excited about the outlook of the Countdown, given our current position in points. We’re going to try to put an exclamation point on that.

“Everyone knows the ability of Aaron Brooks, but my entire crew is awesome, too. We have some of the best working at MLR that Morgan assembled over the past eight or nine years of the team’s existence. We have the staff, we have great race cars that we build ourselves, and we have all the resources we need to contend for a championship.

“The fact that I have one of the best crew chiefs and one of the best crews in the business, that definitely indicates to me that we’ve got the tools we’re going to require to contend for a championship.”

Last year’s trip to BIR, like much of his rookie season, gave the longtime crewman a new perspective on the facility. Now he knows what to expect, which definitely helped him in return trips to Las Vegas, Topeka, Kan., and Bristol, Tenn., where he managed to pull off big wins.

“For me, it’s easier to focus on going and racing,” he said. “A lot of the pressure of being the new guy is obviously gone now. My comfort level is a lot higher inside the race car and outside the race. All of that being said, being able to just concentrate on going and racing each event is where I’m at right now.”

Top Fuel qualifying sessions are scheduled for 3:30 and 6 p.m., Friday, and 1:30 and 4 p.m., Saturday. Eliminations begin at 11 a.m., Sunday. ESPN2 will carry both qualifying and elimination action.