Virtually all his life Jim Oberhofer has been involved with drag racing.

The grease and grime of working in the pits is second nature to Oberhofer. The 43-year-old has been working for Kalitta Motorsports since 1983 and is presently the crew chief for Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster.

Of all the things Oberhofer has seen and done, dancing, of any kind, wasn’t on his bucket list.

“I never ever thought about dancing,” said Oberhofer bluntly.

Why would he? Oberhofer tunes an 8000 horsepower nitromethane-fueled dragster to go 320 mph in 1,000 feet. What’s more, Oberhofer’s boss is the legendary Bounty Hunter Connie Kalitta.

Virtually all his life Jim Oberhofer has been involved with drag racing.

The grease and grime of working in the pits is second nature to Oberhofer. The 43-year-old has been working for Kalitta Motorsports since 1983 and is presently the crew chief for Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster.

Of all the things Oberhofer has seen and done, dancing, of any kind, wasn’t on his bucket list.

“I never ever thought about dancing,” said Oberhofer bluntly.

Why would he? Oberhofer tunes an 8000 horsepower nitromethane-fueled dragster to go 320 mph in 1,000 feet. What’s more, Oberhofer’s boss is the legendary Bounty Hunter Connie Kalitta.

Just when Oberhofer thought dancing was out of sight and out of mind for him, his wife Tammy began prodding him about dancing. Tammy started bugging Jim about taking dance lessons, namely because a couple of years ago the Dance Pavilion was built in the Paint Creek Shopping Mall in Ypsilanti, Mich., right next door to La Fuente, Mexican food restaurant, which Jim and his family frequented.

“I remember when the Dance Pavilion first opened, my wife asked me about taking dance lessons and I told her there was no chance of that happening,” Oberhofer said. “Then, about six months later, Tammy asked me again about taking dance lessons and I said, Hell no. Do not ask me again.”

Despite Oberhofer’s dislike for dance, after talking with their daughter Ashley, 15, Jim thought ballroom dance lessons would make a good anniversary gift for his wife.

“Last December, I bought my wife and I a small package of three private lessons, two group lessons and one open dance party session which they have on Friday nights,” Oberhofer said. “I thought I would just get these lessons done and I will not have to worry about dancing ever again.”

A funny thing happened to Oberhofer, however, when he was taking the lessons from he and his wife’s instructor, Trish Stuckey.

“I thought dancing was for a bunch of sissies, but after the third (private) lesson, I really enjoyed it,” Oberhofer said. “After my wife and I completed the initial lessons we had bought, I talked to Ron Brown, the owner of the Dance Pavilion, and bought a package of 20 more lessons.”

Those additional lessons became a sanctuary for Jim.

“I really got into the dance lessons and I found they were something I could do where I didn’t have to think about racing at all,” Oberhofer said. “I didn’t have any idea how to dance, so when I went to these lessons I had to give my full concentration to what I was doing. By doing these lessons, I also began to appreciate what I had in my life a lot more.”

To speed up their learning curve, Jim kept taking lessons from Trish and Tammy began taking lessons from Trish’s dance partner, Chad Brown.

“Both of these instructors fit our personalities,” Jim said.

Jim and Tammy progressed to the point where Trish and Chad told them they wanted to be their respective partners in some Pro-Am dance competitions.

“I thought she was kidding,” admitted Jim.

Trish wasn’t and she, Jim, Chad and Tammy entered the Divida Dance Vision Classic at the Green Valley Ranch in Las Vegas, the weekend after the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip, which concluded on Oct. 31.

At the Divida Dance Vision Classic, Trish and Jim competed in the Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Cha-Cha, Rumba, East Coast Swing, and Mambo. Chad and Tammy competed in the Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango and East Coast Swing.

Determined to succeed, Jim and Tammy went through hours and hours of practice leading up to the competition.

Jim and Tammy both made strong showings for themselves during the competition and Jim even won the Top Male Student at the Divida Awards Banquet which followed the competition.

“There were all these great dancers in this competition and somehow I won the Top Male Student award,” Jim said. “I was shocked. I couldn’t believe I won.”

Not only has ballroom dancing become an outlet for Jim, it has improved his health immensely.

Last January when the 6-foot-1 Jim started the dancing lessons he was tipping the scales at 309 pounds. Just under a year later he weighs 219 pounds.

“I never thought of myself as being Joe Fitness, but I knew I needed to lose some weight,” Jim said. “Once I started doing these lessons I really enjoyed them and at the end of the lessons, I realized I was getting a really good work out. My goal right now is to lose 10 more pounds, so I can say I lost 100 pounds.”

One thing is for sure, dancing is now a part of Jim’s everyday life.

“My wife and I still are taking lessons and I plan on competing in another Pro-Am competition in March in Michigan,” Jim said. “The thing I’ve enjoyed most about these dancing lessons is all the great people who I have met from all walks of life. I never really told anybody in the classes what I did, but they found out and now we have some new NHRA fans and fans of Kalitta Motorsports which is also pretty cool.”

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