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12 drivers set for Bodine Bobsled Challenge

Monday, January 04, 2010

The field is set, and the weather is forecast to be quintessential Adirondack in January.

With ample snow, a typical chill in the air, and the 30th anniversary of the 1980 Winter Olympics just a month away, Lake Placid will present a Currier & Ives winter scene Jan. 8-10 to the 12 drivers from NHRA and NASCAR who will converge on the two-time Winter Olympics village for the fifth annual Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering.

The daring dozen will leave their comfort zones and drive modified bobsleds down the three-quarter-mile, 16-turn Mount Van Hoevenberg track, site of the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games as well as the 2003 and 2009 World Bobsled Championships.

NHRA will be represented by Top Fuel drivers Morgan Lucas, Shawn Langdon, and Melanie Troxel and Pro Stock standout Jeg Coughlin Jr. Joey Logano, the 2009 NASCAR rookie of the year, and road racer Boris Said, who has been the dominant performer at the previous four challenges, also will be in the field. Other competitors are Geoff Bodine, named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers; two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Randy LaJoie; 2009 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified champion George Brunnhoelzl III; 2009 NASCAR Whelen All American Series driver Philip Morris; off-road racer Carl Renezeder; and past NASCAR champion Todd Bodine, younger brother of Geoff and Brett Bodine.

The competitors will have practice sessions Friday, Jan. 8, at 2:30; practice and qualification Saturday, Jan. 9, beginning at 9 a.m.; and a pair of races, including the NASCAR versus NHRA head-to-head confrontation, Sunday, Jan.10, at 10 a.m.; pre-race festivities will commence at 9 a.m.

Though the goal for any race car driver is to win, the mission of the event is to create awareness and greater funding for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project Inc. Bodine, winner of the 1986 Daytona 500, joined forces with auto racing designer Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics in Oxford, Conn., to create made-in-America bobsleds for the United States men's and women's national teams.

Since 2002, the Bo-Dyn effort has produced one Olympic gold medal (Jill Bakken), two silver medals (Todd Hays and Shauna Rohbock), and a bronze (Brian Shimer). Additionally, U.S. team member Steve Holcomb ended a 50-year world championship drought when he drove his four-man Bo-Dyn sled to the world title in Lake Placid last February.

The men's and women's squads have claimed numerous World Cup medals this season -- five gold medals among them -- in the run-up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. With the help of Bo-Dyn technology, the team is poised to end a 62-year gold medal drought in the Winter Olympics.

The Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project Inc. graciously accepts and appreciates support of its made-in-America efforts. To make a donation, log on to www.bodinebobsled.com.

Tickets are available for the gala banquet and auction Saturday night at the Lake Placid Crowne Plaza Resort. To purchase, log on to http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase.

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