Jon Oberhofer gave Nicky Boninfante carte blanche to do what he wanted to Del Worsham’s 2015 Toyota Camry on Sunday at the Toyota NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas.

Anything…with two specific exceptions.

Jon Oberhofer gave Nicky Boninfante carte blanche to do what he wanted to Del Worsham’s 2015 Toyota Camry on Sunday at the Toyota NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas.

Anything…with two specific exceptions.

The two Kalitta Motorsports crew chiefs, working within those parameters, came up aces as Worsham won in a Funny Car for the first time since the 2009 season when he won at Virginia Motorsports Park. He drove past John Force in the final round to claim the title at The Strip in Las Vegas, knocking off the drivers that sit first and second in the points race in the final two rounds.

“We’ve obviously made some mistakes in the past and some ground rules were laid out this morning on what could and couldn’t be touched today, per John-O,” Worsham explained. “Nicky had to abide by those rules. Anything else he could do, but he could not touch two things on the car. I’m going to give this one to John-O. He had the right call.”

The supercharger overdrive and clutch flow, from two seconds on, were what Oberhofer wanted to stay the same, and the team leaving those two things alone all day resulted in the quickest pass of the day when Worsham needed it most…in the final round against Force.

In the first round, Worsham defeated Jeff Arend by running a .075-induced 4.110 at 309.63 miles per hour. In the second round, against Ron Capps, Worsham had a .108 light but won in the left lane for the only time all day with a 4.092/315.19 pass that topped Capps’ .066/4.138/315.71 pass.

With points leader Matt Hagan on deck in the semifinals, Worsham knew his team would have to do better.

“The Matt Hagan run was huge,” Worsham said. “The run against Ron Capps was a very close race, four thousandths of a second, and when it came time to race Matt Hagan we knew 4.09 was not going to be enough to beat Matt Hagan.

“The crew chiefs did a great job. They went in there, got their brains together along with Tommy DeLago and Nicky Boninfante…the Oberhoffers…everybody was in there. I just stayed away. I just had to worry about driving and they popped out that 4.05. It was just an amazing run.”

This set up a final round against John Force…a driver in pursuit of his 17th career world title. A win in the final would have pulled Force within just one point of Hagan heading to Pomona for the season finale.

Worsham spoiled those thoughts, running a .074-induced 4.064 at 318.39 to better Force’s .057/4.104/321.43 package.

Worsham wasn’t concerned that his win against Force could cost the racing legend a championship.

“If I beat him every day, from now until I’m 55 years old, I would still be behind,” Worsham said. “That guy has abused me for 20 years. I’ve got a couple of licks in here and there, but he’s a great competitor and a great ambassador of the sport.

“He’s a friend of mine. We live close and the first Funny Car I ever bought and ever drove was a John Force Funny Car. He’s been a pretty big part of my entire life. As much as he’s been a hinderance, he’s also been a great leader. He showed me the way in the multi-car teams and I’ve been to him for a lot of advice.”

After the win, which made him the only driver in NHRA history to win Las Vegas titles in both Funny Car and Top Fuel, Worsham wanted to make sure to point out who he is driving for.

“I’m driving Scott’s car, we all know that and I don’t ever want to lose focus on that,” Worsham said of the late driver who perished in a 2008 on-track accident. “Everyone knows it’s Scott Kalitta’s Funny Car, he was a great champion and a great friend of mine. Connie Kalitta, I was lucky enough for him to let me drive his car and I just want to make those two proud.”

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