Phillip Bonifield (born June 23, 1963) is an American former professional
stock car racing driver and team owner. He was the owner/driver of
Team Racing
Team racing, also known as team sailing, is a popular form of dinghy racing and yacht racing. Two teams compete in a race, each sailing two to four boats of the same class. The winning team is decided by combining the results of each team's boats ...
, which competed in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of thr ...
with various drivers including himself driving their trucks. He also competed in the
Busch Series
The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
part-time from
2001 to
2003 as well as in two
West Series races in 2007.
Racing career
Bonifield began his racing career in 1973, when he began competing with
BMX bicycles. Racing across the United States, he won several championships from 1979 to 1983. In 1987, he moved to
go-kart
A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...
s, where he raced against
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Harvick is the 2014 Cup Series champion, ...
and
Casey Mears
Casey James Mears (born March 12, 1978) is an American professional off-road and stock car racing driver. He has raced in IndyCar, NASCAR's three national series including 15 seasons in the Cup Series, SCORE International, and the Stadium Super ...
, before competing part-time in the
NASCAR Elite Division Featherlite Southwest Series in 1991.
Bonifield became a driving instructor at the
Buck Baker Racing School in 1993, after he moved to the Southeast from California. Around the same time, he opened his own fabrication shop, and worked for various
Winston Cup
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
teams. In 1998, Bonifield closed his fabrication shop and began fielding entries in the Truck series. His first race as owner in a points-paying event came that season at
Walt Disney World Speedway
Walt Disney World Speedway was a racing facility located on the grounds of the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando.
It was built in 1995 by IMS Events, Inc., a subsidiary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, an ...
in the No. 11
Red Line Oil Chevrolet, driven by
Brett Bodine
Brett Elias Bodine III (born January 11, 1959) is an American former stock car racing driver, former driver of the pace car in Cup Series events, and current NASCAR employee. Brett is the younger brother of 1986 Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine a ...
, who qualified 13th but finished 32nd after an engine failure. Bodine ran two more races for Bonifield that season, both races resulting in DNFs.
In 1999, he decided to pull double duty as an owner and driver, with Tom Mazzucchi coming aboard as a partner in the No. 23 Red Line Oil truck. He made his Craftsman Truck Series debut at
Evergreen Speedway
Evergreen Speedway is an automobile racetrack located within the confines of the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington. The stadium can accommodate up to 7500 spectators in the covered grandstand and an additional 7500 in the uncove ...
, finishing 30th. Bonifield would compete 13 more times that year, and finished 31st in points, and 7th in
Rookie of the Year standings. In 2000, he ran just eight races, and did not finish a single race.
In 2001, Bonifield posted a career-best 24th twice, at
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. That same season, he began running races part-time for
Impact Motorsports
{{Infobox former NASCAR team
, name = Impact Motorsports
, logo =
, owners = David Hodson, Russell Kersh
, base = Charlotte, North Carolina
, series = Craftsman Truck Series
, numbers = 12, 25, ...
, and purchased Impact's owner's points and equipment after it shut down, renaming his operation
Team Racing
Team racing, also known as team sailing, is a popular form of dinghy racing and yacht racing. Two teams compete in a race, each sailing two to four boats of the same class. The winning team is decided by combining the results of each team's boats ...
. He also made his Busch debut at the
MBNA Platinum 200
The A-GAME 200 is a NASCAR Xfinity Series stock car race that takes place during the spring at Dover Motor Speedway.
History
The race was broadcast in the United States on ESPN until 2015, when the race moved to Fox. In 2016, the race was mo ...
for
Jay Robinson Racing
Premium Motorsports (formerly Jay Robinson Racing) was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team last fielded the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 LE full-time for Brennan Poole, and the No. 27 Ca ...
, starting 34th but finishing 36th after engine problems plagued the team.
In 2002, mechanical problems continued to plague Bonifield and his team, as he failed to finish any of his eleven starts that season. Despite this, he finished 31st in points. He also ran six Busch races, two for his own team, one for
Bost Motorsports
Bost Motorsports is a former NASCAR Busch Series team. It was owned by Danny Bost and driven by a variety of drivers.
The team made its debut in 2002, originally a splinter of Bickford Racing. Running the No. 34, Daniel Johnson started 35th bu ...
, and the rest for
Means Racing
Jimmy Means Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro part-time for Harrison Rhodes, Gar Robinson, and Brennan Poole. It is owned by former driver ...
. His best finish was a 30th at Fontana, the only race he finished that year. 2003 marked Bonifield's best Truck Series season, as he ran 21 of 25 races, and finished 20th in points. His best finish was 23rd at
Memphis Motorsports Park
Memphis International Raceway (formerly known as Memphis Motorsports Park) was an auto racing park located near the Loosahatchie River in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, just approximately ten miles south of Millington, and a few miles ...
.
Unfortunately, his success was not carried over into 2004. Neither Bonifield nor his team ran many races that season. Bonifield only qualified for events, and was twice parked for driving too slow. During the season, Bonifield sold the trucks to
Bill Davis Racing
Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009.
The team had run Toyota-branded stock cars and trucks in the Camping World Truck Series (Toyota Tundra) since 2004 and Sprint Cup Series ( T ...
and shut down the team. He and spent 2005 and 2006 developing
ARCA Re/Max Series
The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...
and
NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone West Series driver Andrew Myers. He returned to the Truck Series in 2006, fielding the No. 86 Chevrolet.
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(
key) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Busch Series
Craftsman Truck Series
West Series
References
Racing One
External links
*
*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonifield, Phil
1963 births
Living people
NASCAR drivers
NASCAR team owners
People from Napa, California
Racing drivers from California