Todd Bodine edges out Joey Logano to win bobsled challenge
Camping World Truck Series driver Todd Bodine won the Whelen Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge at Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, N.Y. on Sunday, edging Sprint Cup Series rookie Joey Logano.
Todd Bodine, who was the fastest qualifier Saturday, was the fastest of the 12 NASCAR and NHRA drivers with the best overall time of two runs down the Olympic track.
Bodine’s time of one minute, 39.18 seconds was .4 seconds faster than Logano’s combined runs.
"I've had a good sled," Bodine said. "During qualifying and the first round I had really clean runs. The second round wasn't quite as fast as Larry's [Gunselman], and what I needed to do was just stay with them, and we got it done."
Gunselman, a part-time Nationwide Series driver, finished third at 1:39.60. Gunselman’s time of 49.33 seconds in the second round was the fastest time of either round.
NHRA driver Morgan Lucas was third, with fellow drag racer Jeg Coughlin fourth. Defending race winner Boris Said finished sixth.
In Sunday’s second race, four NASCAR drivers and four NHRA drivers made two runs apiece, with the slowest driver from each sanctioning body eliminated after each run.
Bodine was fastest in each of the first two runs and then beat Logano in a head-to-head competition. NHRA driver J.R. Todd was fastest in the first two NHRA runs but then was beaten by Morgan Lucas in the NHRA semifinal.
Lucas and Bodine then drove competition Bo-Dyn sleds used by the U.S. National Bobsled team in the finals, with U.S. men’s bobsled coach Brian Shimer serving as brakeman for Bodine, while women’s coach Bill Tavares rode with Lucas.
Lucas made a 47.78-second run in the updated sled. Bodine was ahead of Lucas’ pace on his run but then crashed in the final stages.
"I felt bad about wrecking the sled, but I had this old-time racer tell me once, ‘Boy, if you can't win, be spectacular,' and we were spectacular," Todd Bodine said.
The Bodine Bobsled Challenge is geared to raise money for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, which was started in 1992 by former Cup driver Geoff Bodine, who partnered with Chassis Dynamics.
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.
Speed will televise four hours of the Whelen Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge on Jan. 18 at noon EST and Jan. 25 at 2 p.m.
