Chevy Announces Title Sponsorship of the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge
Lake Placid, NY — In an announcement made Friday, Chevy has become the title sponsor of the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge in Lake Placid, N.Y. The event will take place January 3-5, 2008 and is set to take place at the Olympic Sports Complex.
The 3rd Annual Chevy Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge is presented by Whelen Engineering.
This competition is a race involving drivers from the world of auto racing piloting specially-made sleds and is staged as a fundraiser for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project. The initiative provides Made in America bobsleds for the United States Men’s and Women’s Bobsled Teams.
“We are proud to be involved as the title sponsor of the Chevy Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge,” said Ed Peper, Chevrolet General Manager. “Given Chevrolet’s rich history with NASCAR, this event creates great synergy for us in this uniquely All-American team effort.”
“Everyone with the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc. is pleased that Chevy is continuing to support our efforts to build the best bobsleds in the world for our USA Bobsled Teams,” said Phil Kurze, President of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc.
“The Chevy Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge has raised significant funding for research and development of new Bo-Dyn sleds,” continued Kurze. “The improvements and testing we’ve done obviously has worked – the U.S. is leading the World Cup two-man bobsled, four-man bobsled and combined overall bobsled standings with Steve Holcomb piloting a brand new Bo-Dyn sled. The results are just amazing.”
Holcomb has won three gold medals in six races this season. He is also the defending two-man and combined bobsled World Cup champion, and silver medal winner in the four-man bobsled World Cup series.
“We are so grateful Chevy has returned for a third year,” said Bodine, winner of the 1986 Daytona 500 along with another 17 NASCAR victories in his career. “I’m thrilled with the success of the U.S. team and the 15 years we’ve put into this program. This just proves how important an event this has become for us, allowing us to provide cutting-edge technology and equipment for our U.S. athletes.”
After watching the 1992 Winter Olympics, Bodine became interested in helping the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team create and design their own sleds instead of relying on the old or outdated bobsleds purchased from other countries. Bo-Dyn Bobsleds (“Bo” for Bodine, “Dyn” for Chassis Dynamics) was created later that year by Bodine and his friend and chassis builder, Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics, located in Oxford, Conn. Bodine founded the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc. to help create a winning bobsled for the U.S. teams. The U. S. National Team first used Bo-Dyn sleds in 1994. Ten years after Bo-Dyn’s inception, the U.S. team won three medals in Bo-Dyn Bobsleds during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, including a gold medal in women’s bobsled. The women’s team also captured a silver medal in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. In 2006-07, the U.S. bobsled team won two World Cup season-ending gold medals and two silver medals, as well as 17 World Cup medals (seven gold, nine silver and one bronze) and two World Championship medals.
All sleds were Bo-Dyn designs with NASCAR technology.
Columbia Sportswear has signed on as the Official Clothing Supplier for the Chevy Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, presented by Whelen Engineering.
Sled sponsors for the event include Whelen Engineering, Lumber Liquidators, Lucas Oil and Columbia Sportswear. Additional event sponsors include PPG, Racing Electronics and Yamaha.
The 3rd Annual Chevy Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, presented by Whelen Engineering, will be broadcast on the SPEED channel on January 20 from 12 pm – 2 pm and January 27 at 2 pm – 4 pm. Each show is a separate two hour program featuring a different race.
Other sponsorship opportunities are available by contacting John Morgan (johnmorgan@jfmsports.com) or Phil Kurze (pkurze@bodynbobsled.com).
For more information on the 3rd Annual Chevrolet Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, presented by Whelen Engineering, including event ticket pricing, please log on to www.bodinebobsled.com.
Sources: Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge PR