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Much of the success that Kalitta Motorsports has enjoyed in recent years can be attributed to longtime employee and team manager Jim Oberhofer, one of today's most skilled crew chiefs and a multi-talented individual who has excelled in working with sponsors and the media.
Oberhofer's vast background was developed from growing up in a racing family along with on-the-job training with some of the sport's most demanding taskmasters.
"My father raced in Jr. Fuel and Top Fuel from the late 1950s through the early 1970s," said Oberhofer. "He also had a paint and body shop, and my first job was working there. In 1977, when I was 11, we moved from Saddlebrook, N.J., to Plano, Texas. My dad had sold his race car by then, but he still took us to a lot of races."
A pivotal moment took place in 1983, when Oberhofer and his brother Jon attended the Cajun Nationals with their father and met Scott and Connie Kalitta.
"We hit it off right away," said Oberhofer. "After that, anytime they were around the Southwest, we'd polish their wheels, do some paint work, or anything else we could do to help them out."
Oberhofer got his first racing-related job in 1985 when he began helping Frank Cook and Chuck Lenders campaign their...