Bodine Earns Bobsled Title In Lake Placid
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Jan. 4, 2009) - Todd Bodine carried over his success from
Saturday's qualifying round to the finals as he earned his first Whelen
Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge championship Sunday at the Olympic Sports
Complex.
The top qualifier on Saturday, Todd Bodine was first out of the chute in
Sunday's first round of Race 1, which featured NASCAR and NHRA racers
competing against the clock for a trip to the podium. His maiden run of
49.83 seconds stood as the fastest in the round as the top eight of 12
drivers advanced. In the second round, with the race order inverted, nearly
each driver that went bested the one before him. Joey Logano, who went
next-to-last, posted a 49.56 to set the bar for Bodine. The younger brother
of the event's namesake did not disappoint as he crossed the finish line at
49.35. Bodine's two-round combined time of 1:39.18 earned the Race 1 title.
"I've had a good sled," Bodine said. "During qualifying and the first round
I had really clean runs. The second round wasn't quite as fast as Larry's
[Gunselman], and what I needed to do was just stay with them, and we got it
done."
Logano, in his second year of competition in the Bodine Bobsled Challenge,
finished with a combined time of 1:39.58. Logano, who will contend for the
2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, earned
his first invitation last year as the 2007 NASCAR Camping World Series East
championship. Gunselman came in third at 1:39.60. Gunselman's second run of
49.33 seconds was the fastest run of either round in the morning session.
Morgan Lucas was the highest finishing NHRA competitor in Race 1 at 1:39.83.
Boris Said, the defending Race 1 champion and five-time winner in the Bodine
Bobsled Challenge settled for a sixth-place finish.
The event also included NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion Brian
Loftin, who finished eighth in his first bobsledding experience. Philip
Morris earned a return trip to Lake Placid with his second NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series national championship in three years, finished 10th.
Sunday afternoon's Race 2 featured two rounds of eliminations and two
head-to-head competitions. NASCAR was represented by Todd Bodine, Geoff
Bodine, Logano and Said while the NHRA contingent included Lucas, Jeg
Coughlin J.R. Todd and Bob Vandergriff. Geoff Bodine and Vandergriff were
eliminated in the first round while defending race winner Said and Coughlin
failed to advance past the second round.
In the semifinals of Race 2, which pitted the two fastest NASCAR and NHRA
drivers against each other for a spot in the championship, Todd Bodine once
again edged out Logano with a time of 49.25 for an advantage of .71 seconds.
Meanwhile, Lucas defeated Todd by .03 seconds to earn a spot in the finals
against Bodine.
For the final round, Bodine and Lucas were setup in competition Bo-Dyn sleds
used by the USA National Bobsled team. USA Men's Coach Brian Shimer served
as brakeman for Bodine while Women's Team Coach Bill Tavares rode with
Lucas.
Lucas, who was defeated by Said in the 2008 Bodine Bobsled Challenge Race 2
finals, registered a 47.78-second run in the articulated sled, nearly two
seconds faster than his semifinal run. In Bodine's run, the NASCAR veteran
had gained on Lucas' time through nearly every stage, but rolled the sled
coming out of Turn 18. Bodine and Shimer were fine, but Lucas took home the
title.
"I felt bad about wrecking the sled, but I had this old-time racer tell me
once, 'boy, if you can't win, be spectacular,' and we were spectacular,"
Todd Bodine said.
In the three-day event a total of 12 drivers piloted specially-made bobsleds
down the track in Lake Placid, site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics.
The Bodine Bobsled Challenge is geared to raise money for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled
Project, which was started in 1992 by former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver
Geoff Bodine, who partnered with Chassis Dynamics. The Bo-Dyn Bobsled
Project has built American-made bobsleds for United States athletes
competing in the World Cup, World Championships and Olympic Winter Games.
Funds raised from the Bodine Bobsled Challenge go directly to the Bo-Dyn
Bobsled Project. The annual dinner auction held in conjunction with the
event took place at the Lake Placid Crowne Plaza Hotel & Resort Saturday
night with proceeds also benefiting the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project. Whelen
Engineering Vice President for Motorsports and Bodine Bobsled Project
President Phil Kurze was satisfied with the results.
"The auction was on par with last year's successful event," Kurze said. "In
2010, with it being an Olympic year, we look for the Fifth Annual Bodine
Bobsled Challenge and auction to be an even bigger and better event."
SPEED will televise four hours of the Whelen Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge
on Jan. 18 at noon and Jan. 25 at 2 pm.
Whelen Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge
Race 1 - Timed Competition
Olympic Sports Complex
Lake Placid, N.Y.
Driver, Rd. 1 (Secs.), Rd. 2, Combined
1. Todd Bodine, 49.83, 49.35, 1:39.18
2. Joey Logano, 50.02, 71.29, 1:39.58
3. Larry Gunselman, 50.27, 49.33, 1:39.60
4. Morgan Lucas, 50.27, 49.56, 1:39.83
5. Jeg Coughlin, 50.36, 49.97, 1:40.33
6. Boris Said, 50.72, 49.68, 1:40.40
7. Eric Curran, 50.77, 49.81, 1:40.58
8. Brian Loftin, 50.86, 50.20, 1:41.06
9. Danny Bagwell, 50.93
10. Philip Morris, 51.10
11. Bob Vandergriff, 51.28
12. J.R. Todd, 51.44
