The near zero temperatures made for a slick track for the Chevrolet Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge Saturday at the Verizon Sports Complex. It was an eventful and exciting day at the track as 10 NASCAR drivers competed against each other in two bobsled races which they had prepred for since Thursday afternoon. NASCAR racer Boris Said captured the gold medal in the first race of the day with a combined time of one minute, 44.38 seconds. Said, the son of former Olympic bobsled driver Bob Said, was ironically pushed by his father’s former brakeman Phil “Bear” Duprey at the start of all of his runs throughout the day. After sliding the two best qualifying runs on Friday, Todd Bodine came in second place during the first race followed by Stanton Barrett in third. Kevin Lepage and Tim Fedewa rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth places, respectively. NASCAR short-track legend Dick Trickle certainly made his mark on the bobsled track as well. The animated 64-year old had the fastest training time earlier in the day, however he flipped his sled on both runs of the first race. The Trickle Turn, as commentators re-named curve 18 of the track, saw Trickle flip twice as he tried to gain speed and better his time. Trickle, as well as the rest of the NASCAR drivers, remained in high spirits for the second and final race of the Chevrolet Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. The drivers could not thank Geoff Bodine enough for putting this program together and wished the United States bobsled teams well as they prepared themselves to race again.
Trickle was able to keep his sled on all four runners for both heats of the second race and said, “It’s a lot better to stay on your skis than on your side.” Lepage placed first in the second race of the day with a combined time of 1:44.14. A hush fell over the crowd as Lepage prepared for his second run, the last sled of the day. Lepage joked, “This ain’t the golf course. You guys can talk.” After winning the race, he said, “I’m looking forward to next year.” Former Hollywood stuntman Stanton Barrett captured second place after his second run at 51.96 seconds broke Todd Bodine’s previous track record of 52.01 for best run of the day. During his record-breaking run, Barrett found himself on two runners at times and nearly flipped the sled. Barrett commented, “That was insane. I was thinking ‘Oh, here I come, Trickle.'” Third place went to Tim Fedewa, while Todd Bodine and Geoff Bodine took fourth and fifth, respectively.
Thanking the fans, the U.S. bobsled athletes and coaches, the sled mechanics, and the town of Lake Placid, Geoff Bodine was all smiles at the end of the event. Bodine said, “I knew the drivers were going to love this. They had some doubts, but by the smiles on their faces you could tell how much they liked it.” More info at bodynbobsled.com or Lake Placid Olympic Region Site.
ESPN will televise a one-hour program at 5:00pm/et Jan. 29, while SPEED Channel will provide two hours of coverage on Feb. 4 at 2:00pm/et Feb. 4.(1-8-2006)
