CHARLOTTE (Sept. 14) - GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster driver Richie Crampton knows the 2014 championship is still within reach despite a first-round loss at the Pep Boys NHRA Carolina Nationals on Sunday.

Crampton made his best pass of the weekend but still dropped a close race to No. 2 qualifier Steve Torrence in a rematch of the final of the U.S. Nationals, a race Crampton won.

"It wasn't the weekend we were looking for, but we put up a pretty solid run there," Crampton said. "It obviously wasn't enough to get around Steve-O."

Crampton's pass was 3.819 seconds at 321.12 mph, bettering his qualifying run, but Torrence's dragster has been fast all weekend, and his pass of 3.793 seconds at 318.54 mph was enough to knock out Crampton.

The Countdown to the Championship began in Charlotte, with Crampton in eighth place. In a topsy-turvy round one of eliminations, only four drivers ahead of Crampton in the points standings advanced to the first round. The top-three drivers in Top Fuel points all lost, including leader Doug Kalitta, who was knocked out by Crampton's Morgan Lucas Racing teammate Morgan Lucas.

"We were hoping to carry some momentum into the Countdown here, but it wasn't to be," Crampton said. "Upward and onward, and I'm looking forward to racing in Dallas."

Crampton was hoping to score his second consecutive victory after his triumph in Indy, but he's still on Cloud 9 after the U.S. Nationals.

"No one can take that away from the entire GEICO team," Crampton said. "That was a pretty awesome weekend for everyone, including myself. We know how good this race car is just by looking at how many 3.70 runs we strung together in Indianapolis.

"It just didn't show here in Charlotte, which is kind of weird, but the Countdown is not over yet."