Chances are pretty good you'll be hearing Deric Kramer's name a lot this season. He's already garnered the first No. 1 qualifier of his Pro Stock career and has raced to the first two semifinals of his career, and a fourth-place spot in the Pro Stock points standings through three races.

The 32-year-old from Sterling, Colo., a city about 120 miles northwest of Denver, started getting engines from the powerhouse KB Racing team this season, propelling his drive to prominence.

So exactly who is Deric Kramer? CompetitionPlus.com decided to find out. Here are four things to know about Kramer:

1. He's a Sportsman racer at heart

Kramer's dad, David, was a racer, too and Deric spent a lot of his youth at race tracks.

"We were always at the race track," Kramer said. "My parents are divorced, and on the weekends, I'd go with my dad. That was one of the activities we were doing all the time. It was definitely the place where I grew up."

When he turned eight years old in 1993, Kramer started racing Junior Dragsters and drove them until "outgrew the car."

"Transitioned into multiple Sportsman classes until I was done with college," Kramer said. "Then I raced Comp for a few years until the opportunity to race Pro Stock kind of arose, and we jumped on it.
"I don't know that I ever thought I'd be racing all the time. It was an activity I could do with my dad. That was always what it was, something we did together. That was all I ever really expected out of it."

But when the chance to race Pro Stock came up in 2012, Kramer and his dad jumped at. 

2. Kramer is smart, like really smart

Kramer earned an electrical engineering degree from DeVry University in 2007. He was drawn to engineering because he's a tinkerer, always looking for how things are built, how things work.
"I always liked building stuff; I always liked taking stuff apart," Kramer said. "And I was always really big into computers and stuff like that. The electrical engineering side just spoke to me when I took some of the placement tests. 

"It's the ability to do stuff with my hands – but I don't want to be out digging ditches or something like that. I want to do stuff with my hands, but I also want to work in air conditioning."
OK, did we mention he's funny, too?

Kramer currently works at a company called Blinker, a smart phone app that helps sell cars at the snap of a photo. Kramer spends his days writing code for the app.

His engineering approach to his job translates to Pro Stock, too. He's a problem-solver, using science and technology to figure things out.

"That's exactly how my mind works," Kramer said. "Whenever we're trying to figure something out or looking at data on the graph, I have to dumb it down into simple physics: 'What is happening?' And we go that route about understanding what we're trying to accomplish."

3. He's a fencer

No, that doesn't mean he'll build a chain-link fence for your backyard (even though as an engineer, he probably could). We're talking about sword-fighting.

DeVry, you see, isn't a typical university that has athletic teams or intramural activities, so Kramer had to be creative when trying to find things to do. He hung out at hobby shops, including one where a friend worked.

"He happened to say, 'Hey, we sword-fight out in the park on Thursday. You should come out and give it a shot,'" Kramer said "I was like, 'Sword-fighting? That sounds cool."

Kramer has been going ever since. And we're not talking about Olympic-style fencing, which Kramer said is more of a game about keeping score. "Historical fencing" is what Kramer does, and it's closer to the original intentions of sword-fighting. Think "Gladiator."

Kramer practices sword-fighting every week when he's not racing, because practices are still Thursday nights. He goes to events around the country, like one between the Sonoma and Seattle races between the Western Swing.

The hand-eye coordination and other skills required to be a good sword-fighter translates to driving a Pro Stock car, Kramer said. 
"Between video games and the different motor-reflex type of activities I do, I definitely think it helps," Kramer said. "There are times when I'm not as comfortable sitting in the car for whatever reason, and I can tell performance suffers. So I'll work on it over the weekend or over the week and try and be better for the next week.
"And fencing is definitely one of those things. If I have a bad weekend, I definitely go fight the next week – and typically do a little bit better that next week. I don't know if it's subconscious or what, but it definitely seems to help."

4. What else?

Yes, Kramer plays video games, too. And he's a big movie fan, too. Plus, Kramer follows the Colorado Avalanche NHL team religiously.

"I’m a huge Colorado Avalanche fan, so I always like to watch my hometown hockey team," Kramer said. 

What else should NHRA fans know about Kramer? By all means, come talk to him at the track.

"Never be afraid to come up and chat with me," Kramer said. "I’m just a typical Sportsman racer, and any time any fan would want to come up and chat, get an autograph, whatever, I'm always available."