GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel pilot Richie Crampton recently returned to his hometown of Adelaide for a whirlwind trip to spend time with family and attend the 2014 Clipsal 500. We caught up with the NHRA rookie before he boarded a plane back to the States to grill him about his experiences.
ANDRA: How did it feel to be back in Australia and your hometown Adelaide?
Crampton: It’s great to be back in Adelaide, I definitely miss this place. I’m fortunate that Morgan and the team gave me the time to return here for the weekend.
ANDRA: Did you enjoy the Clipsal 500? How did the local media react to your exploits overseas?
Crampton: The Clipsal 500 weekend was great for me. I was able to spend most of the weekend with my Lucas Oil associates in Shane van Gisbergen and the Tekno Auto Sports garage. As a car guy that was pretty special being up close and seeing the nuts and bolts of the engineering side of things was very interesting.
My hot lap ride along with James Courtney was something I’ll be talking about for a long time. The amount of talent required to muscle that car around the streets of Adelaide is impressive! What the V8’s lack in straight line speed, they make up for ten fold in turning and stopping!
The Australian motorsports media have been extremely curious to hear what’s been going on for me in the NHRA, so I’ve had several chats with various types of Australian reporters about drag racing and all things related to getting in the driver’s seat of a Top Fuel dragster.
In all, a week back in my hometown for the Clipsal event was a lot of fun, but now it’s time to get back to Indianapolis and prepare for Gainesville next weekend. I’m looking forward to that race, as Forest Lucas is being inducted into Don Garlits Hall of Fame that Thursday, and Morgan will be racing that weekend also. Hopefully the GEICO and Lucas Oil MLR dragsters will do some damage.
ANDRA: What are some of your memories from Drag Racing in SA and around Australia?
Crampton: Growing up here in Adelaide, and going to watch the drags at AIR was a lot of fun, there’s always been a great motorsports following here in SA, and around Australia, with great racing and race venues that developed my passion for all things racing related.
Looking back, it was pretty special getting to watch people like Graeme Cowin, Romeo Capitanio, and the awesome wild bunch racing in the late 80’s early 90’s.
ANDRA: Describe your transition from Drag Racing locally to the NHRA in the US:
Crampton: Growing up going to local tracks in Australia taught me a ton about racing and how to just go have fun with the family. The transition for me from competing at a local level, to being a crew member racing in the US was fairly smooth. The racers in the states and especially all of the fans were always very interested to hear about Australian racing so we had a lot of fun on the Cowin team traveling around on the NHRA tour.
ANDRA: How have you found focussing on being the driver, do you still have a desire to look over Aaron Brooks’ shoulder?
Crampton: Getting the opportunity to drive was obviously a dream come true, I always wanted to get there, but I really didn’t know if I’d ever get close. I still find myself trying to be involved in the clutch department, and of course asking Aaron questions and looking at data with him which is great. I think that the more a driver can understand about the race car the better off everyone will be. I’m really fortunate that we have one of the best crew chiefs in the business, and we have a lot in common, so the team chemistry is great.
ANDRA: What are the major differences from Australia to the US?
Crampton: One of the biggest differences over in the states is the fact that we race so often and there’s constantly so many teams running good that it’s hard to qualify. And there are no easy round wins. Obviously the availability of parts and the latest technology for teams in the states makes racing over there a little more user friendly too.
ANDRA: What is the procedure at an NHRA event from tow out to what happens after you make a pass, tow back and get into the pit area? How does it vary to Australia?
Crampton: A fairly standard run for me would be to tow up to the staging lanes about 15 minutes before we are expected to run, which gives the NHRA people time to get all of the cars in order, and also gives Aaron some time to radio back to the crew members with any last minutes calls such as clutch weight/blower overdrive etcetera after he looks at the track conditions.
I try and get my safety gear on, and get in the car fairly early, usually when there’s about four pairings ahead of us, to avoid rushing and getting stirred up at the last minute. Obviously from there we take our turn to run, in which Aaron or someone from our team will check with our opponent on how long they take to stage etcetera and adjust accordingly to whom will start first.
A normal start up to stage time is a total of two minutes. Once the hopefully successful run is over, I climb out, hopefully do an interview with ESPN, then try and assist the guys to get the chutes rolled up and tow strap connected to the dragster. Obviously returning to the pit as quickly as possible is a priority, so the NHRA officials that run the scales weigh the car on its own, and they have all of the drivers physical weight logged so as to expedite things and make it not necessary for the driver to get out of the tow vehicle and stand on the scale.
Once we are back at the pit area, the organised chaos begins and the 50 minute turnaround time starts. That’s what makes or breaks a team, and I am fortunate to have worked alongside of these guys for so long, that I believe they are the best at what they do.
ANDRA: Are you looking forward to competing four wide at zMAX Dragway? Does the team’s approach change?
Crampton: Racing at the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte will be new to me, but I’m excited to compete at that race as we (the team) historically run pretty good there. We top qualified and won the race the last time and it’s one of Aaron’s favourite tracks. I don’t believe the extra two cars to race will be a distraction, as I’ve been taught by Morgan to just concentrate on making my own run in my own lane.
ANDRA: What advice do you have for other Aussies looking to make the jump to the US?
Crampton: My advice to other Aussies that want to make the jump to the NHRA would be work hard, and get your face out over there. There are always opportunities, but you obviously need to be in that right place at the right time. That being said it is hard work to stay over there for long periods without appropriate visas etcetera so do your homework.
ANDRA: What are the chances the GEICO/Lucas Oils Team will make a trip to Australia to compete in an event?
Crampton: Morgan, Aaron and myself have talked about the possibilities of competing at a race or two in Australia, we all would love that! However it would need to be the right deal with a lot of planning, that wouldn’t impact on any of our US program, so it’s hard to know if it will happen. But you never know.
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