BO-DYN BOBSLED PROJECT
In July 2005, Geoff Bodine announced that he will organize a bobsled race
involving 10 NASCAR drivers piloting specially-made sleds. The event was
designed to bring awareness to the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project and to help fund research
and development of the sleek new bobsleds used in Olympic competition.
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LAKE PLACID, NY - The Chevrolet Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge was held at the Verizon Sports Complex in Lake Placid, NY. The totally refrigerated bobsled course is just over a mile in length and has a vertical drop of 418 feet. NASCAR stars ran the course from the 3/4 mile mark using specially-made 2-man sleds that differ somewhat from the sleds used in competition. They do not have the retractable driver push-bar or the 2-piece flexible chassis. More important, the runners are just polished round steel, similar to what's under a stock snowmobile ski. The lack of competition runners provides little steering control in the straightaway but does offer some control in the corner.
NASCAR drivers in attendance were Geoff Bodine, Todd Bodine, Steve Park, Boris Said, Dick Trickle, Stanton Barrett, Kevin Lepage, Brad Noffsinger and Joel Kauffman.
Pressing matters at work prevented me from attending Thursday's events at Lake Placid.
It was about +15 degrees at the Verizon Sports Complex Friday morning. The days activities started with a drivers meeting and team weigh-in. Since weight makes a big difference in a sport that relies partially on gravity, every effort was made to keep the combined weight of the driver and brakeman equal for
all teams. Steve Park and his brakeman were over the limit so they asked for a lighter individual to be his brakeman. MRN Radio staff member Eric Morse, a long-time Geoff Bodine fan who posts regularly in our Forum, got the
call.
drivers meeting |
driver weigh-In |
Geoff addresses the drivers |
The NASCAR stars then ran several practice runs with professional bobsled drivers coaching them. The sleds were started with a slow push out of the gate by a track official instead of the customary running push by the driver and brakeman. Most were covering the 3/4 mile course in about 54 seconds, hitting a top speed close to 60 mph. Boris Said was consistently fastest in practice and when asked to comment, he said "Hey, it's a road course." After practice, two qualifying heats were run to set the starting position in Saturday's first Challenge race. The driver with the fastest combined time of both heats was Todd Bodine.
The -4 degree temperature Saturday morning made for a fast course as evidenced by sub-54 second runs posted in practice. It was then time for the first two-heat Challenge race and time for the drivers to turn it up a notch. And turn it up they did! We were seeing some really aggressive lines in the curves as the drivers now began posting sub-53 second runs. When we thought we'd seen just about everything, Dick Trickle proved us wrong. I was standing in curve 14 when he came through and his line looked almost 2 sled-widths higher than anyone else's. Dick never finished his run with "the shiny side up." The sled rolled on its side near the bottom of the course. Dick and brakemen Kelly Weaver were okay and couldn't wait to get back to the top for their next run. Unfortunately, their next run ended just like the previous as Dick became the first (and only) driver to turn a sled on its side not once, but twice.
As with qualifying the day before, the driver with the fastest combined time of both heat races was declared the winner. When the snow dust settled, road-course expert Boris Said was on top of the leader board by .76 seconds over Todd Bodine.
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Boris Said and brakeman Ryan Johnston edged out Todd Bodine to win Challenge Race #1 |
After a short break, the NASCAR stars began Challenge Race #2. By now the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was about +18 degrees, which should have slowed the course down. However, "seat time" and continued coaching by the professional drivers was paying off. We were seeing even faster runs
down the hill.
At one point, it looked like Geoff would be the winner of Race #2 but as the last four drivers raced down, each was faster than the previous and took their turn on top of the leader board. Stanton Barrett set an event record of 51.96 seconds on his final run. However, his stay on top of the leader board was
also short lived as Kevin Lepage, the final driver to race down the hill, turned in a time of 51.98 seconds and won Challenge Race #2 by just .24 seconds.
Geoff and brakeman Matt Bodine
lead with four sleds yet to run. |
Stanton Barrett sets event
record of 51.96 seconds. |
Kevin LePage and brakeman
Matt Brice celebrate their win. |
All in all, I believe the Chevrolet Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge was very successful in bringing awareness to the sport and to the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project. Although some of the NASCAR drivers originally scheduled to compete could not make it for one reason or another, it was still well attended by both media and fans. Once the word gets back to the NASCAR family on how much fun this was, I think we'll
see a much better driver turnout next year.
I wish to thank Geoff Bodine, Phil Kurze (Whelen Engineering), John Morgan (JFM Sports Inc) and Stephanie Ryan (ORDA) for a great weekend. Thanks also go to the many course workers, timing officials and staff members associated with the Verizon Sports Complex. I was very impressed with the manner in which
they conducted the entire competition.
Jud Bleser - Webmaster
Geoff Bodine Fan Club
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