NASCAR DRIVERS TO HIT THE SLEDS THIS WEEKEND IN LAKE
PLACID
Six Drivers To Compete In Whelen Geoff Bodine
Bobsled Challenge
The Whelen Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge is set to take place Jan.
2-4 in Lake Placid, N.Y., with a host of NASCAR drivers lined up for
the fourth annual event.
Recently-crowned NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Johnny
Benson heads a list of six NASCAR drivers set to slide into bobsleds
this weekend. Todd Bodine, Joey Logano, Brian Loftin, Philip Morris
and Boris Said will round out the NASCAR contingent.
The event will once again be sponsored by Whelen Engineering, title
sponsor for three of NASCAR’s weekly and touring series – the NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and the
NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
“We take great pride in being a longtime sponsor of the Bo-Dyn
Bobsled Project, Inc.,” said Phil Kurze, Vice President of
Motorsports for Whelen Engineering and President of the Bo-Dyn
Bobsled Project. “When the title sponsorship of this event became
available, we were very excited about the opportunity to support
such a wonderful event.”
The Bodine Bobsled Challenge will see NASCAR drivers pilot
specially-made bobsleds down the track in Lake Placid ’s Olympic
Sports Complex, site of the 1980 Winter Olympics. In Race 1, all the
drivers will be compete against the clock as they take two runs down
the track. Race 2 will feature head-to-head racing between NASCAR
and NHRA drivers, with the winner from each division set to square
off in the final heat for bragging rights. The NHRA will be
represented in the challenge by POWERade Pro Stock Champion Jeg
Coughlin Jr. and Top Fuel drivers Morgan Lucas, JR Todd, and Bob
Vandergriff.
Also set to compete in the event is road course racer Eric Curran
and Sprint Car driver Tom Tolbert.
Said, a part-time NASCAR driver and analyst for ESPN’s NASCAR
coverage, will enter the event as the favorite. A five-time Bodine
Bobsled Challenge winner, Said’s only loss in the first three years
of the event, either during the timed or head-to-head portions, came
in a match-up against Kevin Lepage in 2005.
Benson, who captured his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
title in 2008, will compete in the Bodine Bobsled Challenge for the
second year in a row. The same can be said for Logano, who will be a
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender in
2009. Todd Bodine, brother of event founder and former NASCAR driver
Geoff Bodine and 2006 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion,
has competed in the Bodine Bobsled challenge each year of its
existence.
Champion drivers Loftin and Morris will represent NASCAR’s touring
and weekly ranks. Loftin captured his first NASCAR Whelen Southern
Modified Tour title in 2008 and will make his debut at Lake Placid
this weekend. Morris, who also participated in the 2007 Bodine
Bobsled Challenge, earned his second career NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series crown this past season.
“Getting to compete in the Bobsled Challenge was one of the
highlights of my 2006 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series
championship,” Morris said. “To be able to go to Lake Placid and run
the same courses that the Olympic guys do and experience what they
experience is pretty outlandish for me.”
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion Ted Christopher was extended
an invitation, but will not participate due to prior commitments.
The Bodine Bobsled Challenge is geared to raise money for the
Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, which was started in 1992 by Geoff Bodine.
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 this project.
SPEED channel is set to televise four hours of the Whelen Geoff
Bodine Bobsled Challenge on Jan. 18 at noon and Jan. 25 at 2 pm. MRN
Radio has signed on to provide live coverage of the Bodine Bobsled
Challenge all three days.
THE END