When the Napa Auto Parts Cavalcade of Funny Cars runs at Maple Grove Raceway this weekend as part of the Geezers at The Grove Reunion, it will be more than just an exhibition race between some of the biggest names in the sport’s history.
 
With more than a dozen cars speeding down Maple Grove’s quartermile strip, the competition will be especially intense. That’s because putting these cars together isn’t just a hobby it’s a passion.
 
Just ask Nick Boninfante Jr., who helps tune the U.S. Male Mustang Funny Car for his father “Nitro Nick” Boninfante. The family business has been in his blood since he was a little kid in the Philadelphia suburbs
 
“When I got home from school, the first thing was homework,” said Boninfante, who is also co-crew chief for Jeff Arend’s Funny Car in the NHRA Full Throttle Series. “I’d get it done as quick as I could and I’d head down to garage. I couldn’t wait to get down there and work on the racecar. My dad taught me everything. It was one of those things.

When the Napa Auto Parts Cavalcade of Funny Cars runs at Maple Grove Raceway this weekend as part of the Geezers at The Grove Reunion, it will be more than just an exhibition race between some of the biggest names in the sport’s history.
 
With more than a dozen cars speeding down Maple Grove’s quartermile strip, the competition will be especially intense. That’s because putting these cars together isn’t just a hobby it’s a passion.
 
Just ask Nick Boninfante Jr., who helps tune the U.S. Male Mustang Funny Car for his father “Nitro Nick” Boninfante. The family business has been in his blood since he was a little kid in the Philadelphia suburbs
 
“When I got home from school, the first thing was homework,” said Boninfante, who is also co-crew chief for Jeff Arend’s Funny Car in the NHRA Full Throttle Series. “I’d get it done as quick as I could and I’d head down to garage. I couldn’t wait to get down there and work on the racecar. My dad taught me everything. It was one of those things.
 
“I learned how to clean parts at 9, by the time I was 12 or 13 I was working on whatever; blowers, cylinder heads. By time I was in my early teens I was building engines. I didn’t do all the work, but I would help the mechanics and my dad.
 
“By time I was 15 or 16, we would match race every weekend. It’s all I knew. It’s all I ever wanted to do.”
 
The U.S. Male is driven by Phil Burkart Jr., whose drag racing passions go back to his youth. Yet another drag racing veteran scheduled to appear is Peter Gallen in the Poverty Stricken car who couldn’t stay away from the sport after taking several years off.
 
In fact, the whole Geezers at The Grove weekend celebrates people who kept their racing passions for decades.
 
There will be racing all day Friday and Saturday as drivers can show their stuff in bracket racing sponsored by Justice Brothers Car Care Products. Qualifying runs will be held between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday, with a single run Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Eliminations will then commence at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Race entry is $50 for both days and $35 for Saturday.
 
Also scheduled for both days is a car show, along with a cruise of the track on Friday night. There will be judging both evenings.
 
The cruising, along with the awards, sponsored by Sonic, Paintin Place and D&W Motorsports.
 
Spectator and crew admission is $20 Friday, $25 Saturday and $35 for a two-day pass. Teens 13-15 years old are $10 and children 12 and under are free. Carload cruisers on Friday will be admitted for $10 after 6 p.m.

 

Advertisement