Geoffrey Bodine’s prospects for the 2003 race season have clouded since he returned from his goodwill tour of American Troop bases in the Middle East over the New Year’s holiday. Bodine, Winston Cup driver Jerry Nadeau, and three other drivers took part in the Armed Forces Entertainment Program’s “Operation Enduring Freedom.” They spent five days meeting troops in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. But since his return Friday, the Chemung native’s options for competing in next month’s Daytona 500 have all but disappeared. He finished third in that race last year. Bodine said he had talks with Andy Petree Racing about driving for that team, but Petree announced Monday that he hired Christian Fittipaldi for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16. Last week it was reported that Bodine’s sponsor during the past few years — Miccosukee Indian Gaming Casino — agreed to sponsor Mike Wallace in the James Finch-owned car in the Daytona 500 and four other races. Bodine has been unable to reach officials of the Florida-based casino, but she said the news wasn’t encouraging. Bodine is eligible for the Bud Shootout, which is Feb. 8 at Daytona. With his sponsorship up in the air and few, if any, cars with open seats remaining, Bodine doesn’t have any plans for that race either. For now, Bodine will test the Travis Carter Ford for youngest brother Todd on Jan. 14 and 15 at Daytona International Speedway. Todd is still recuperating after back surgery Nov. 22 to repair a ruptured disc. Bodine is also expected to offer some help to middle brother Brett during next week’s tests at Daytona. Geoffrey is still hopeful that he’ll hook up with the Cegwa Sport Daytona Prototype team for the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on Feb. 1 and 2. John Shapiro, Cegwa Sport’s team manager, said Wednesday that he didn’t know what Bodine’s status was with the team, but Shapiro said there is a possibility Bodine could join the team. He said they have signed two of their four drivers so far.( Elmira Star Gazette )(1-9-2003)
