WILD AT HEART

DRAG racing can be a brutal and unforgiving sport, and sometimes you can become a victim for reasons beyond your control. Case in point: it looks like Richie Crampton has lost his drive with Kalitta Racing, meaning that for the first time since 1996, Australia probably won’t have a driver in NHRA Top Fuel. For the 2020 season, the Kalitta team is looking at downsizing from four cars to a single dragster driven by Doug Kalitta and two Funny Cars for JR Todd and Shawn Langdon. The reason? Well, no one is saying much, but when you downsize, it’s often due to money – in most cases, the lack of sponsorship dollars.

Richie would be disappointed if he were to miss out on racing this year. He was one of the few in the pro ranks to have earned his place on talent alone and not because he had a bucketload of money to buy the ride. His journey from a kid in Adelaide racing a Supercharged Outlaw car to crew member and driver at Morgan Lucas Racing, then on to Kalitta Racing, has been amazing. He was NHRA Rookie of the Year in 2014, and with 12 career wins can claim to be the most successful Aussie to have raced in the NHRA.

I met Richie when he came to Willowbank

Raceway in January 2019 to drive for Lamattina Racing. He struck me as an amiable, unaffected type of guy and was extremely popular with the fans.

On the same theme, I also want to pay tribute to Cory Mcclenathan. It looks like his NHRA career is over. Ninth on the all-time winners list, he was unlucky not to win an NHRA Fuel title after finishing runner-up on four occasions. He’s best known in Australia for his time with Rapisarda Racing, which included winning the ANDRA Championship in 2016. People who were there remember the day at Sydney Dragway when he tossed his helmet at his car after it wouldn’t start! I think he raced in Australia four or five times and, like Richie Crampton, went out of his way to make himself available to the fans, posing for photos and signing autographs.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve bemoaned the fact that in Australia there’s been a lack of new talent coming through the ranks. The most notable exception was Kelly Bettes, who was plucked from Sport Compact to race in Top Fuel by team owner Phil Lamattina. The history books show that it was one of the best decisions he could have made, as in 2018 Kelly became the first woman in this country to win a Top Fuel title.

This season, Pro Alcohol may have also unearthed a new talent in Queenslander Jake Donnelly. He made his debut at the first round of the 400 Thunder season, qualifying third behind two of the major players in the category, Gary Phillips and Steve Reed. Jake drove around the highly rated Victorian Robert Ambruosi before being narrowly defeated by Reed. Jake cut his teeth driving in the Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars series, and at the age of 24 has a great future ahead of him. Graeme Frawley and Luke Marsden, two of the best brains in the category, are part of his crew.

A bit of an update on the third-generation members of Team Bray. Ben’s kids Zachary and Dakoda are racing in Junior Dragster and loving it. So far, they’ve only raced at their home track, Willowbank, but are keen to spread their wings. It’s great to see the enjoyment they get out of racing. Ben is terrific and doesn’t put pressure on them to win; in fact, that’s not a consideration. I think it’s fantastic to see kids and families sharing the fun, enjoyment, and yes, the disappointments that are part of drag racing. Being involved in Junior Dragster teaches the kids that

IT LOOKS LIKE RICHIE CRAMPTON HAS LOST HIS DRIVE WITH KALITTA RACING, MEANING THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1996, AUSTRALIA PROBABLY WON’T HAVE A DRIVER IN NHRA TOP FUEL

competing is what’s important. Winning is something to strive for, but you can learn from both winning and losing. Something, as adults, we should keep in mind.

I talked about the radial scene in Australia a couple of months ago when Ben converted his Pro Slammer to run on radials and ran the first 200mph pass in the country. The category is booming, and cars are literally coming into the country every week. It looks like there will be a seven- or eight-round series getting off the ground this year, which is good news. Ben is also buying a car to run in the series. The deal hopefully will be finalised in the next week or so. More details next month.

For our readers in Western Australia, there could also be some good news heading your way. It’s early days, but 2020 could see Team Bray and some other teams coming over to take on the local Pro Slammer racers in an east coast versus west coast meeting. It also looks like the Westernationals meeting next month will see a couple of Top Fuel cars match-racing. The names being tossed about are Phil Lamattina and Peter Xiberras. The Motorplex is an Andra-aligned track, so here’s a question to think about: will they race the traditional quarter-mile distance, or the 1000 feet that’s become the norm since the IHRA took over running Top Fuel in 2017? Whatever the decision, it will be a great event and something that Motorplex fans have been waiting a long time for.

Finally, I was sad to hear the news that Bill Simpson, who founded Simpson Racing Products, has passed away aged 79. If you’ve been a racer, chances are that at some time you’ve come into contact with a product from his company.

Back in the 50s, Simpson was one of the first to introduce parachutes into drag racing. His designs were initially based on converted military cargo ’chutes. However, his main legacy will be the role he played in developing fire-retardant driving suits. He got the idea after meeting American astronaut Pete Conrad, who told him about this miracle fireretardant product called Nomex. Simpson then created his own line of driving suits, and the story is that he would set himself on fire to show how effective they were. After he sold his company about 20 years ago, he established Impact Racing, which also became involved in producing safety equipment for motorsport.

RIP Bill, and condolences to his family and friends.