Richie Crampton earned a round win at the Summit Motorsports Park today in Norwalk, Ohio.
Crampton and the Top Fuel field got only two attempts at the track in qualifying. After the first pass did not go as the DHL/Kalitta Air team would have liked, Rob Flynn and Connie Kalitta tuned Crampton to a 3.888 second pass which easily secured Crampton a spot in the field.
The 10th starting spot meant a draw with part-time competitor and Ohio native Pat Dakin. Crampton was solid on the tree, and the DHL ride recorded its best pass of the weekend, a 3.802, to secure the round win.
That advanced Crampton past the first round for the second time in three events; this time the draw was Terry McMillen. Despite another solid effort at the tree and a clean 3.810 second run, McMillen was able to score the round win by a few feet at the line. With the result, Crampton moved within one point of the top ten in the standings.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 10 (3.888 sec., 316.60 mph)
E1: Crampton defeated Dakin – 3.802 sec., 321.81 mph to 3.834 sec., 318.24 mph
E2: Crampton defeated by McMillen – 3.810 sec., 320.51 mph to 3.793 sec., 327.11 mph
Quotable: “We’re heading in the right direction for sure. We’re starting to keep our eye on those valuable points. We definitely needed a round win or two here. Now we just need to keep moving forward as we head to Epping in two weeks.”
Point Standings: 11th; trails Scott Palmer by one point for 10th.
Kalitta Motorsports PR/Photo Credit Gary Nastase Photography
