The nitro pit area is a community where crew guys will come and go. But more often than not, those working relationships turn into longtime friendships.
That’s precisely what happened with Jim Oberhofer and Nicky Boninfante, who worked together back in the day at Kalitta Motorsports on Scott Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster back in his championship years. Then, they went their separate ways to pursue other opportunities.
They are back together this year as the Clay Millican Parts Plus Top Fuel dragster tuners.
“We spent a lot of time together back in the ’90s working on Scott [Kalitta’s] car, winning those championships, and then I worked with his brother John, where Jim O ran our team,” Boninfante said. “We’ve all gotten to work together for a really good long time, close to 20 years. I’m really looking forward to getting back into Top Fuel.”
There are some folks with a natural chemistry, and Boninfante said it isn’t hard to see the synergy between him and Oberhofer.
“There’s only a few guys in the sport that I really enjoy working with, and he’s one of them,” Boninfante said. “Obviously, working with Del Worsham, one of my best friends and someone I’ve enjoyed working with for the last five years, too.
“I was looking to get back with a dragster and then also get a little closer to home so I could be with my family a little bit more. I’m really looking forward to sharing that chemistry again.”
Boninfante will be co-crew chief, and the chance to work with Millican is something he’s excited about. He tuned for Bruce Litton and raced against Millican in the IHRA, where Millican is a multi-time IHRA champion.
“He always gave us a good whipping back then,” Boninfante said. “I’m looking forward to being able to race with him and work for Rick Ware.”
While Boninfante will work with Oberhofer on the tuning decisions, it’s the clutch can that will be his expertise. The name Boninfante has long been synonymous with high-performance clutches. Though he’s no longer working in the family’s Boninfante Friction business, he’s very still up to snuff on clutches.
“I help Jim with the tuning decisions based on the racetrack and the weather and then also with the type of clutch configuration that we’re running,” Boninfante said. “We’ve done a little bit of work on that to try to pick the car up in the areas that Jimo felt like he needed to grab a little bit of ET and speed.
“We run a six-disc like most guys do. Back in the Kalitta days, we had a six-disc too. So over here, we’re just running a setup that Jim O’s worked really hard at the last few years we feel like our car will be very competitive this season.”
Already the reunion has paid dividends as Millican drove his way to the No. 1 qualifying position and a runner-up finish at the PRO Superstar Shootout in Bradenton, Fla.
