Richie Crampton
Richie Crampton is an Australian-born professional driver who contests the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series' Top Fuel World Championship driving the Kalitta Air / DHL / Toyota dragster for drag racing legend Connie Kalitta.
After beginning in karts, Crampton began drag racing with a supercharged Holden FC Station Wagon. He received the standard car as a Christmas present from his parents and fabricated its drag racing-specific chassis in the garage of his parents' home in Adelaide.
Crampton first moved to the United States working as a crewman for Australian team Cowin Family Racing in 2004.
When the Cowin team quit the US in 2005, Crampton stayed stateside and continued to work as a crewman for various teams and drivers, including with Melanie Troxel at Don Schumacher Racing, and with Morgan Lucas.
When Lucas decided to open his own team, Crampton made the move with his driver and was a founding team member of Morgan Lucas Racing.
Crampton held various roles within the team over the following seven years. Lucas offered Crampton his chance to license in the team's Top Fuel dragster in August 2013, with the Australian setting the quickest and fastest license runs in NHRA history.
Lucas decided to step away from full-time driving, so Crampton was rewarded with the seat in the team's GEICO / Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster for the 2014 season. He made his professional debut at the Winternationals in February that year, qualifying ninth with a 3.786-second pass at 318.09 miles per hour. He defeated Brittany Force in the first round,3.747/322.88 to 4.617/279.50, before losing a close race to Doug Kalitta in the second round (3.764/324.67 to 3.729/330.15).
His first NHRA win came in just his ninth professional start, on 1 June 2014 at the Toyota Summernationals held at Old Bridge Township Raceway, near Englishtown, New Jersey.
Crampton qualified second with a 3.750-second, 326.95 mph pass behind Doug Kalitta. He defeated Dom Lagana, J.R. Todd, and Shawn Langdon on his way to the final round against Doug Kalitta. Crampton outran Kalitta 3.819/320.51 to 3.848/317.34 to claim his first professional win.
Crampton's second and biggest win of his career came at the sport's oldest and most prestigious race, the Chevrolet Performance 60th Anniversary U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway on 1 September 2014.
In winning the U.S. Nationals, became just the second driver next to the legendary "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, to win the sport's premier event in a car they constructed themselves – Crampton having co-built the chassis in MLR's in-house chassis shop.
References[edit]
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