With the NHRA Mello Yellow national event tour off for nearly three weeks until resuming at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., March 13-16, drivers do different things with their time off.
Some go on vacation. Others, naturally, work on their Top Fuel dragsters, Funny Cars or Pro Stock cars or motorcycles.
Not Top Fuel driver Richie Crampton. He’s going home, back to his native Australia.
It will be Crampton’s first time back in his home town of Adelaide in quite some time, according to a press release from Geico/Lucas Oil.
“I’m heading back to my hometown for the first time in 18 months,” Crampton said.
In addition to visiting family and friends, you can’t get the racer out of Crampton: he’ll also attend one of Australia’s biggest races of the year, the V8 Supercar event in Adelaide.
“The V8 Supercar race is a huge event, and I’ll be hanging out with several of the teams that are currently using Lucas Oil (which sponsors his Top Fuel dragster in NHRA competition),” Crampton said.
The race will be held on a street circuit through Adelaide’s downtown area.
“I’m pretty excited to get back and watch that great race on the streets of my hometown,” Crampton said. “I’m also excited to see family and friends who I haven’t seen in quite a long time.”
The trip will not be all R&R for Crampton, who holds duel citizenships in both Australia and the United States. There is a business aspect of it, as well, as Crampton will tell Australian reporters about his exploits on the NHRA circuit in the U.S.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for me to meet with a lot of the Australian motorsports media who are interested in what’s been going in with me here lately,” Crampton said. “I know there are several television and radio personalities who are going to be in attendance who have scheduled some time to get with me, and I’m appreciative of that.
“I’m looking forward to explaining what I’ve been up to in the U.S., and the homecoming story about how I got to drive the GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster.”
Crampton left Los Angeles on Monday night and was scheduled to arrive in Adelaide on Wednesday night (due to the international date line, he essentially skips forward a day).
The V8 Supercars race weekend begins Thursday and runs through Sunday before Crampton returns to the United States next Tuesday.
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