Gentlemen (and lady).. Start your engines!
Bodine event comes to Lake Placid

5TH ANNUAL EVENT TO AIR ON SPEED CHANNEL JAN 24 & JAN 31
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - The field is set and the weather is forecasted to be quintessential Adirondack in January.


Lucas Oil sled seen in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, last weekend will be one of two of the company's sleds used this week

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 and Ives winter scene Jan. 8-10 to the drivers from NASCAR and NHRA. These competitors will converge on the two-time Winter Olympic village for the fifth annual Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering.

The 12 pilots are lead by 2009 NASCAR Rookie of the Year Joey Logano and road racer Boris Said who has been the dominant performer over the previous four challenges. 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.

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

The full weekend schedule can be found at www.bodynbobsled.com/index.php?page_id=11. Tickets are available for the gala banquet and auction Saturday night at the Lake Placid Crowne Plaza Resort. They may be purchased online at http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase

The lineup includes:

George Brunnhoelzl III
2009 Whelen Southern Modified Champion - qualified Brunnhoelzl III for the Bodine Challenge / 5 career Whelen Southern Modified victories

Philip Morris
2009 Whelen All American Series Champion - qualified Morris for the Bodine Challenge  / 3 Whelen All American Series Championships in the last 4 years / Finished 5th in his Nationwide Series debut


Geoff Bodine
1986 Daytona 500 Winner / 18 Sprint Cup Victories / Named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers


Boris Said
Only American to win the 24 hours of Nurburgring / 1 Career Camping World Truck Series victory / 5 Time Bo-Dyn Bobsled Challenge Gold Medalist

Joey Logano
2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year / Youngest Winner in Sprint Cup history / 6 career Nationwide wins

Melanie Troxel
4 NHRA Top Fuel Victories / 1 NHRA Funny Car victory

Morgan Lucas
13 NHRA victories / 3 Top Fuel Victories

Shawn Langdon
5 Career NHRA victories / 2-Time Super Comp Champion

Jeg Coughlin Jr.5 Time NHRA Champion / NHRA-high 7 victories in 2009 / 61 Career NHRAvictories

Randy LaJoie
2-Time Nationwide Series Champion / 15 Career Nationwide Series Victories

Carl Renezeder
Off-Road racer with 86 career short course wins / 10 victories in 2009 /
7-time national champion / comes to Lake Placid after Saturday's Lucas Oil
Off-Road Challenge Cup victory in California which aired on NBC

Todd Bodine
Younger brother of Geoff and Brett Bodine / 2 wins, 7 top fives in 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Truck Series  / 135 career starts in NASCAR Nationwide Truck Series with 17 victories

Dan Wheldon
IRL driver with 15 career wins / will appear in Lake Placid but will not compete


While 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. NASCAR legend Geoff 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 among them -  in the run-up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. With the help of Bo-Dyn technology, the team is now poised to end a 62-year gold medal drought in the Winter Olympics.

The Challenge airs nationally with two separate shows on Speed Channel Jan. 24 and Jan. 31.