NASCAR Champions Take The Track At Lake Placid
Bodine Bobsled Challenge Day 1
Lake Placid, NY — A field of NASCAR champions traded the asphalt for the ice Thursday as the 3rd Annual Chevy Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering kicked off with an afternoon of training runs.
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion Steve Carlson was among the first ones down.
“That’s cool,” said Carlson has he paused to catch his breath at the end of the run. “It was kind of a rough ride, but it was fast – faster than I thought.”
Carlson is one of three NASCAR Developmental Series champions invited to participate by Whelen vice president of motorsports Phil Kurze. Carlson is joined by NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Donny Lia and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified champion L.W. Miller. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday is also participating, along with NASCAR Craftsman Truck drivers Johnny Benson, NASCAR Camping World Series East champion Joey Logano, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Boris Said.
This year’s challenge also includes a full contingent of NHRA drivers.
Friday, the drivers will take more practice runs and then a qualifying run. Saturday, they will take two final runs. The afternoon session will feature a face off between the NASCAR drivers and the NHRA drivers.
Prior to getting in the sleds, the drivers walked down the course Thursday afternoon as several members of the U.S. Olympic team took them through the turns.
“The good thing is they all understand pressure – how to use it and carry it – because they do the same thing in the car,” said Michael Kohn, a member of the U.S. four-man bobsled team that earned a bronze medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics. “You just feel the sled and what the track gives you and get the speed out of it.”
The Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project was the brainchild of former NASCAR driver and 1986 Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine. After watching the 1984 United States Olympic Bobsled team finish well outside of medal contention, Bodine decided to get involved and help bring the sled technology up to par with the world’s top programs.
Bodine proceeded to partner with Chassis Dynamics and Whelen Engineering to build a bobsled for the U.S. athletes. It was an idea that led to the creation of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project that has since put the U.S. Bobsled team into Olympic medal contention. The Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge was started three years ago as an avenue for the project to raise funds, as well as awareness.
It has also created race fans out of the bobsledders, like Kohn. When he went to San Diego to train with fellow bobsled driver Steve Holcomb during the summer, they took the opportunity to visit with Said, who took them out to his go-kart track. Kohn also took part in the Petty Driving Experience at Darlington (S.C.) Speedway. He said there were a lot of similarities in the two sports.
“You’re going for speed,” Kohn said, “so you’re always trying to steer at the right place and the right time. You’re always looking ahead.”
For the NASCAR drivers, Thursday’s experience was breathtaking.
“It’s a different deal,” said Logano, motioning with his hands. “That thing’s like ‘bang, boom, boom.’ All over the place. It was fun.
“It’s a way different experience than driving a race car. When I first started down the hill, it wasn’t hard at all. Then you started digging through these little ‘S’ things – back and forth, back and forth – and you start booking there. You really have to start wheeling it. That thing was awesome.”
They’ll be back on the ice for more Friday.
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR PR