EPPING, N.H. (June 21) - 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."
With momentum pushing Crampton in the right direction, he feels like he is sitting in a good position to bring home his second win of the 2014 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season and his career.
"Aaron Brooks and the entire GEICO team have really figured out how to run this race car well on a hot track," Crampton said. "Tomorrow isn't going to be really hot, and in my opinion it will definitely be challenging for most crew chiefs. I think Brooks and the team will have a good handle on the track tune-up for me. That means it should be a long day of racing for us Sunday."
Crampton will look to continue his success in Epping when eliminations start at noon. Tape-delay action of the first two rounds will start at 1 p.m. on ESPN and will head into live coverage of the semifinals and finals around 4 p.m.
