Phil Bonifield is an owner/driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series. He fielded Team Racing for six years in the Truck Series. 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 #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. 

June 23rd, 1963 in Napa (Age 61)