NCAA men’s basketball tournament fans weren’t the only ones who witnessed a bracket-busting win this weekend.

The trend bounced over to the Top Fuel category on Sunday during the 49th annual Amalie NHRA Gatornationals when Richie Crampton, whose last win was in the fall of 2015, defeated part-time racer Shawn Reed for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series’ Wally Trophy.

A few might have had a vision of Crampton and the Kalitta Air/DHL team with a slight chance of getting to the round. Not many outside of Reed’s and team owner Todd Paton’s families etched his name on a championship round bracket.

And if anyone did, it probably was in pencil.

But that’s why winners aren’t crowned until the end of races.

It is Crampton’s first Top Fuel title since winning more than two years ago with Morgan Lucas Racing. Winning his eighth Mello Yello title was made a little easier when Reed’s car experienced a fuel system malfunction after the burnout and was shut off.

But Crampton recorded a 3.854-second run at 314.90 mph on a bye run for the team led by Connie Kalitta and Rob Flynn.

He defeated teammate Doug Kalitta in the opening round on a holeshot and advanced further by beating Mike Salinas. He eliminated three-time world champion Antron Brown in the semifinals when each lost traction but Crampton recovered quicker to stop Brown’s march to become the fourth Top Fuel driver to 50 event titles.

“I had a couple lucky rounds and then won by default,” said the modest Crampton, who showed why legend Connie Kalitta hired him late in the past season. “Nonetheless, Connie and (crew chief Rob Flynn) gave me a racecar that went 3.85 (in the final round).”

Crampton, an Australian native living near Indianapolis, earned his first win since joining Kalitta Motorsports for last year’s U.S. Nationals over Labor Day Weekend. After completing the season, Crampton accepted a full-time job driving one of two Kalitta dragsters.

“To drive for a legend like Connie is hard to explain,” Crampton said of giving Kalitta his 96th title as an owner. “He’s done so much for the sport and to strap into one of his racecars is lucky for me every weekend.

“All I ever wanted to do was stand in a winner’s circle with Connie Kalitta, and I got to do that today. Not many (drivers) have had that luxury.”

The day was just as memorable for Reed, who had only won two elimination rounds in 18 Mello Yello races.

The five-time drag boat racing champion from Seattle eclipsed that total on Sunday with wins over Pat Dakin, eight-time world champ Tony Schumacher and Gatornationals No. 1 qualifier Clay Millican.