meet bruce bonnesen ...

Bruce began racing in 1988. He started out in the "Bomber" class, and finished second his first year out. He then moved into the "Stock Car" class, racing Chevrolet and Monte Carlos. Bonnesen claimed his first track championship in 1991 at Buena Vista Raceway in Alta, Iowa. In 1992, he won the Algona Nationals, marking his first major race victory!

1993 was a busy year for Bonnesen off the race track. He was married, purchased an acreage, remodelled a house, and welcomed his first-borne child into the world. With a personal late-season start on the 4th of July, he managed to finish seventh in points at Buena Vista Raceway (BVR).

Bonnesen teamed up with John Baumann in 1994, where he finished the season third in track points. At the Jackson Speedway Nationals, he stayed up all night following the qualifying races because of severe front-end damage. On Saturday night, feature-race night, Bonnesen won both the B-feature and A-feature races despite starting in the back! An amazing comeback! You should have seen the trophy girl!!!

1995 was a fantastic year for Bonnesen. He won the points championship at Alta's Buena Vista Raceway and Jackson Speedway in Jackson, MN. Bonnesen also won the Jackson Nationals for the second year in a row! 1996 brought another track championship at Buena Vista Raceway. After such an amazing run of accomplishments in the stock car class, Bonnesen decided to move into the "Modified" class. He raced both stock and modified cars during the last six races of the 1996 season. It was difficult jumping from one car into another during a race night!

1997 was Bonnesen's first full year racing in the modified class. He finished the season sixth in overall points. Bonnesen decided to quit racing, but by Spring 1998 he again had the fever to get out on the track. He teamed up with Al Ritts in the modified class for 1998, finishing a disappointing ninth place in points.

In 1999, Bonnesen decided to run his own show once again. He drove the green "96" stock car to a second place points finish for the season. He tried to stay away from racing in 2000. In February 2000, Bruce became self-employed with Bonnesen Plumbing, but spent much of his free time helping others with their race cars, especially Ben McVinua, the purple-and-white "36" car. Ben had a successful year, and Bruce enjoyed helping him.

In 2001, Bonnesen joined the Nelson Motorsports racing team as the driver of car "03." Bruce joined David Nelson, the car owner, and a new team-mate, Dale Woodard, driver of the "04" car. The whole Nelson Motorsports crew welcomes Bruce to the team! Bonnesen looks forward to racing in the NASCAR sanctioned races at Crawford County Speedway.

Bonnesen Plumbing is a proud sponsor of Nelson Motorsports. Bonnesen Plumbing, Inc. wears many hats, from general plumbing to trenching and boring. Directional boring is Bruce's favourite part of the job ... he is like a kid who likes to play in the mud and water, and run all the big equipment. His son, Kurt, is a carbon copy of his behaviour. His son, Doug, is a miniature reflection of Bruce's looks. He has a daughter, Tiffany, and two step children, Josh and Siera. Bruce's wife, Sally, is the bookkeeper for Bonnesen Plumbing, Inc. and also enjoys racing. Please call us at 712.261.1266!