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, which competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with various drivers including himself driving their trucks. He also competed in the Busch Series part-time from 2001 to 2003 as well as in two West Series races in 2007.

Phil Bonifield
NationalityUnited States American
BornPhillip Bonifield
(1963-06-23) June 23, 1963 (age 61)
Napa, California
Previous series
2007NASCAR West Series
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
8 races run over 3 years
Best finish73rd (2002)
First race2001 MBNA Platinum 200 (Dover)
Last race2003 Winn-Dixie 200 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
70 races run over 6 years
Best finish20th (2003)
First race1999 NAPACARD 200 (Evergreen)
Last race2004 Line-X Spray-On Truck Bedliners 200 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Last updated on: July 13, 2020.

Racing career

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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-karts, where he raced against Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears, 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 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 in the No. 11 Red Line Oil Chevrolet, driven by Brett Bodine, 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, 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 and Las Vegas. That same season, he began running races part-time for Impact Motorsports, and purchased Impact's owner's points and equipment after it shut down, renaming his operation Team Racing. He also made his Busch debut at the MBNA Platinum 200 for Jay Robinson Racing, 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, and the rest for Means Racing. 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.

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 and shut down the team. He and spent 2005 and 2006 developing ARCA Re/Max Series 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

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

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NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NBSC Pts Ref
2001 Jay Robinson Racing 49 Ford DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV
36
KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 127th 55 [1]
2002 Team Racing 90 Pontiac DAY CAR LVS DAR
DNQ
BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL
30
RCH NHA
35
NZH CLT
DNQ
73rd 270 [2]
Means Racing 52 Ford DOV
43
NSH KEN MLW
42
DAY CHI GTY PPR IRP
43
MCH BRI
Bost Motorsports 4 Chevy DAR
43
RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM
2003 22 DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX TAL NSH CAL RCH GTY NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR
40
RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR HOM 150th 43 [3]

Craftsman Truck Series

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCTC Pts Ref
1999 Team 23 Racing 23 Chevy HOM PHO EVG
30
MMR MAR MEM PPR
35
I70
32
BRI
32
TEX
32
PIR GLN MLW
33
NSV
34
NZH
33
MCH
30
NHA
32
IRP
32
GTY
31
HPT
34
RCH
QL
LVS
34
LVL
DNQ
TEX CAL 31st 972 [4]
2000 DAY
DNQ
HOM PHO
35
MMR
32
MAR PIR GTY MEM
DNQ
PPR
35
EVG
31
TEX KEN
33
GLN
DNQ
MLW NHA NZH
30
MCH
34
IRP NSV
DNQ
CIC
DNQ
RCH DOV TEX CAL
36
39th 617 [5]
2001 DAY HOM MMR MAR GTY
35
DAR PPR
33
DOV
34
TEX
31
MEM MLW
31
KAN
31
KEN
DNQ
NHA
32
IRP CAL
24
33rd 932 [6]
25 NSH
27
CIC NZH RCH SBO
36
TEX
31
PHO
DNQ
86 LVS
24
CAL
DNQ
2002 Team Racing DAY
35
TEX
34
MCH
33
IRP 31st 704 [7]
23 DAR
DNQ
MAR GTY
DNQ
PPR
35
DOV
DNQ
MEM
34
MLW
31
KAN
31
KEN
32
NHA NSH
DNQ
RCH TEX
33
SBO LVS PHO
34
25 CAL
31
HOM
DNQ
2003 23 DAY
34
CLT
DNQ
DOV
29
MLW
32
KAN
28
KEN
25
GTW
30
MCH
32
IRP NSH
28
BRI
35
NHA
32
TEX
32
MAR
35
PHO
29
20th 1524 [8]
86 DAR
29
MMR MAR TEX
28
MEM
23
RCH
35
CAL
31
LVS
31
SBO
30
HOM
25
2004 25 DAY
DNQ
ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV
34
TEX
33
MEM MLW KAN
33
KEN GTW MCH
33
IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 107th 64 [9]
– Qualified but replaced by Boris Said

West Series

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NASCAR West Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 NWSC Pts Ref
2007 Pam Lippard 30 Chevy CTS PHO
38
50th 140 [10]
Ford AMP
24
ELK IOW CNS SON DCS IRW MMP EVG CSR AMP

References

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  1. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2002 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  4. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 1999 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  5. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  6. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2001 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  8. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  9. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "Phil Bonifield – 2007 NASCAR West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
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