Geoff Bodine - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Geoffrey Eli Bodine is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Motorsport

Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...

driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine

Brett Bodine

Brett Bodine is a former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and is the current driver of the pace car in Sprint Cup events. Brett is the younger brother of 1986 Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine and the older brother of 2006 Craftsman Truck Series champion Todd Bodine...

and Todd Bodine

Todd Bodine

Todd Bodine is a NASCAR driver. Todd is the younger brother of former racers Geoff Bodine and Brett Bodine. Bodine is known for his bald head, which has given him the nickname The Onion...

). Bodine currently lives in Cornelius

Cornelius, North Carolina

Cornelius is a town located along Lake Norman in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 11,969 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Cornelius is located along Lake Norman in northern Mecklenburg County...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

.

Bodine's racing career seemed to be on track right from the start as his father and grandfather, Eli Bodine Jr. and Sr. built Chemung Speedrome

Chemung Speedrome

The Chemung Speedrome is a 3/8 mile Asphalt race track in Chemung, New York, USA. Built in 1951 by the Bodine family, the track was first dirt-surfaced, then paved. It was closed in 1978...

just a year after he was born. He began learning his racing skills at this track in the micro-midget division when he was only five years old. He had such an itch to race that he disguised himself as a lady and entered a Powderpuff Division Race when he was 15. In 2011, he drove for Tommy Baldwin Racing

Tommy Baldwin Racing

Tommy Baldwin Racing is a NASCAR team based in Mooresville North Carolina. The team is owned by former crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr., son of late modified driver Tom Baldwin...

in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, alternating between the #35 and #36 teams, with sponsorship from Luke & Associates.

NASCAR Modified driver

Bodine was quite an accomplished driver before he hit the big-time in NASCAR's premier division, the Winston Cup series (now Sprint Cup series) with his first start in 1979. By this time, Bodine was well known as a Modified driver in the Northeast, racing against popular drivers like Richie Evans

Richie Evans

Richard Ernest Evans , was an American racing driver who won nine NASCAR National Modified Championships, including eight in a row from 1978 to 1985. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame lists this achievement as "one of the supreme accomplishments in motorsports"...

, Jerry Cook

Jerry Cook

Jerry Cook is a NASCAR championship race car driver. He began racing at the age of 13 and won the track championship at Utica-Rome Speedway in 1969.-Driving career:...

, Jimmy Spencer

Jimmy Spencer

Jimmy Spencer is a current television commentator, and a former NASCAR driver. He formerly hosted the NASCAR inspired talk show, “What’s the Deal?”, on SPEED. He is the former co-host, with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace, of the SPEED's pre-race and post-race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and...

, Ron Bouchard

Ron Bouchard

Ron Bouchard is a former NASCAR driver who was the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. His brother Ken Bouchard was the 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.-Local driving career:...

, and others. Bodine had earned Modified championships at Stafford Speedway, Shangri-La Speedway

Shangri-La Speedway

Shangri-La Speedway was a speedway in Owego, New York. It was a half-mile oval race track facility. Over a span of fifty years, Shangri-La hosted automobile races of various kinds, including a NASCAR Grand National race in 1952, AAA Championship Cars, stock cars, Modifieds, Supermodifieds, and...

, Spencer/Williamson Speedway, and Utica-Rome Speedway. He has won many of the big races in Modifieds including the Lancaster 200 (1978, 1981), Race of Champions (1972 - Trenton, 1978 - Pocono), the Stafford 200 (1978), the Trenton Dogleg 200 (1979), the Thompson 300, the Spring Sizzler (1980 - Stafford Speedway), Oswego

Oswego

Oswego is a word from the Iroquois language, meaning "The Outpouring". The word may refer to:-Place names:In the United States:*Oswego, Illinois, a village in Kendall County*Oswego, Indiana, an unincorporated place in Kosciusko County...

Classic (1981), Cardinal Classic (1975 - Martinsville Speedway), Oxford 250 (1980, 1981), as well as many other modified events.

In 1978, Bodine won more races than any other Modified driver in recorded history. Driving cars owned by Dick Armstrong with Billy Taylor and Ralph Hop Harrington as crew chief, Bodine started 84 feature events and won 55 of them. Among the most prestigious of these victories were the Race of Champions at Pocono

Pocono Raceway

Pocono Raceway also known as the Tricky Triangle, is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania at Long Pond...

, the Spring Sizzler at Stafford, the Budweiser 200 at Oswego, both major events at Martinsville

Martinsville Speedway

Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, near Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved...

, the Thompson 300, and a sweep of the six-race Yankee All-Star League series. For these fifty-five victories, Bodine is credited in the Guinness Book of World Records with "Most wins in one season".

Bodine's racing background also included wins in the Late Model division, Nationwide Series division, and others. He has six Busch Grand National wins to his credit.

NASCAR Winston Cup career

Geoff is best known for his NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) career. His first full season in Winston Cup came in 1982 when he earned the Rookie of the Year title. He earned his first Winston Cup pole that year on his 19th start (1982 - Firecracker 400) and scored his first Winston Cup victory two years later on his 69th start at Martinsville

Martinsville

Martinsville is the name of several places:in Australia:*Martinsville, New South Walesin Canada:*Martinsville, Saskatchewanin the United States of America:*Martinsville, Illinois*Martinsville, Indiana*Martinsville, Missouri*Martinsville, New Jersey...

in 1984. Geoff's biggest win came at the 1986 Daytona 500

Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....

. The season opener, Daytona 500

Daytona 500

, is NASCAR's most prestigious single event. Other career highlights include the 1987 International Race of Champions

International Race of Champions

International Race of Champions, better known as IROC, was a North American auto racing competition, promoted as an equivalent of an American All-Star Game or The Masters...

championship, the 1992 Busch Clash, the 1994 Winston Select (despite a first segment spinout), and the 1994 Busch Pole award. Geoff's final win in NASCAR's highest division came in the "Bud At The Glen" in August 1996 when fortuitous pit stop timing led to Geoff taking the lead in his QVC Thunderbird while the other drivers pitted. Bodine managed to hold off the field the rest of the way beating Terry Labonte to the line
by 0.44 seconds to claim the checkers.

Cup career highlights

Geoff has driven for some of the best car owners in NASCAR, including Junior Johnson

Junior Johnson

Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...

, Bud Moore

Bud Moore

Bud Moore may refer to:* Bud Moore , American football player and coach* Bud Moore , former NASCAR owner**Bud Moore Engineering, his team* Bud Moore , former NASCAR driver...

and Rick Hendrick

Rick Hendrick

Joseph Riddick Hendrick III , better known as Rick Hendrick, is the current owner of the American NASCAR team, Hendrick Motorsports and founder of the Hendrick Automotive Group and Hendrick Marrow Program. He attended Park View High School in South Hill, Virginia, and began his career in auto...

as well as owning his own cars. He has 565 starts, 37 poles, 18 wins, and nearly $16 million in winnings during his Winston Cup/Nextel Cup career. He was honored as one of "NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers" during NASCAR's 50th anniversary celebration. Bodine has always been a great innovator and brought many ideas to Winston Cup. He introduced power steering

Power steering

Power steering helps drivers steer vehicles by augmenting steering effort of the steering wheel.Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver needs to provide only modest effort regardless of conditions. Power steering helps considerably when a...

and full-faced helmets to Winston Cup. He was also the last driver to win a race and lap the field, in the fall 1994 race at North Wilkesboro Speedway

North Wilkesboro Speedway

North Wilkesboro Speedway was a short track that held races in NASCAR's top three series from NASCAR's inception in 1949 until its closure in 1996...

. He holds the track record at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...

from his polesitting run after the track was repaved in 1997, with a speed of over 197 mph.

Daytona crash

Bodine was involved in a vicious, fiery accident at Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...

in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on February 18, 2000, driving the #15 Line-X Ford F-150 for Billy Ballew

Billy Ballew Motorsports

Billy Ballew Motorsports is a team that competes in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. They were formed in 1996 by Georgia businessman Billy Ballew. They currently field the #51 Bullet Liner F-150 for Colin Braun.- Fasscore Motorsports :...

. Geoff was on the outside of two other trucks (one of which was driven by Kurt Busch, a rookie at the time) on the front stretch tri-oval during the 57th lap. Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch

Kurt Thomas Busch is an American NASCAR and NHRA driver. He drives the No. 22 Shell Oil Company/Pennzoil Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and will race on an "opportunity permitting" basis in the Pro Stock division of NHRA...

and Rob Morgan made contact, resulting in Morgan's truck swerving into Bodine's truck. This caused Bodine's truck to become airborne and hit the catch fencing, completely destroying it (and rupturing the fuel cell in the process), leaving nothing but the roll cage intact. It then barrel-rolled down the track where it was hit several more times by other trucks before coming to rest on its roof. 13 other trucks were involved in the accident, making it one of the largest wrecks in NCTS history. As a result of the impact, Geoff broke his right wrist, right cheekbone, a vertebra in his back, and his right ankle, and also suffered a concussion. Nine fans were also injured in the
accident.

Bodine missed less than half of the 2000 Winston Cup season recovering from his injuries, starting only 14 of 34 races and finishing 45th in points with no poles, wins, or top 10 finishes. Amazingly, Geoff returned to the track that had nearly claimed his life to finish third behind Elliott Sadler

Elliott Sadler

Elliott William Barnes Sadler is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series. He is one of only 23 drivers to have won in each of NASCAR's top three series...

and the race winner Ward Burton

Ward Burton

John Edward Burton III is an American NASCAR auto racer, who has a total of five career Sprint Cup wins. He last drove the #4 State Water Heaters Chevrolet Impala SS for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in 2007. He is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, against whom he first...

in the 2002 Daytona 500

Daytona 500

. However, including that race, Geoff Bodine only made 18 starts in the NASCAR Winston/Nextel/Sprint cup Series between 2001 and 2004, with only one top five and two top 10s, both in 2002. He attempted to qualify for the Brickyard 400 in 2004 driving for Gary Trout Autosports, but did not qualify and did not attempt to qualify for any other races that year.

New team

Geoff, Todd, and Larry Gunselman

Larry Gunselman

Larry Gunselman is an American former race car driver. He has made a total over 100 starts and over 2 million in earnings in all three of NASCAR's top divisions...

started a race team in 2009. Geoff attempted to qualify the #64 Toyota for the 2009 Daytona 500

2009 Daytona 500

The 2009 Daytona 500, the fifty-first running of Daytona 500, was the first points-paying race to open the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The race was won by Matt Kenseth making a car numbered 17 winning the Daytona 500 for the first time in 20 years since Darrell Waltrip's win back in 1989 and the...

. In 2010, Geoff returned to the Camping World Truck Series for the first time since 2004 with Team Gill Racing at Atlanta

Atlanta Motor Speedway

. He finished 26th with engine problems despite qualifying an impressive 8th.

Geoff is also racing in ISCARS DASH Touring, Sanctioned by ASA. iscarsonline.com
See Geoff Bodine/ISCARS Driver Development Program on Facebook for more information.

Bo-Dyn bobsleds

Bodine's creativity and innovation are not just limited to NASCAR racing. Bodine is the co-owner of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Company. His bobsled interest started during the 1992 Winter Olympics

1992 Winter Olympics

The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...

when the U.S. Bobsled Team was having a tough time during competition. Bodine learned that the sleds being used were all imported and not built locally. He felt that he could help the team win with better bobsled technology derived from his racecar engineering background and experience. With these beliefs, Bodine took a few runs in a bobsled at Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....

to confirm his feelings and to learn more about the sleds.

Bo-Dyn Bobsleds (Bo for Bodine, "Dyn" for Chassis Dynamics) was created in 1992 by Bodine and his good friend and chassis builder, Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics. Bodine founded the USA Bobsled Project to help create a winning bobsled for the U.S. teams. The U. S. National Team first used their 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 Olympics

2002 Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

in Salt Lake City, and during the 2010 Winter Olympics

2010 Winter Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...

in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, American bobsledder Steven Holcomb piloted a Bo-Dyn Bobsled named "Night Train" to gold. Every January since 2006 at the Lake Placid, New York track, a charity run is held with the US bobsled team and NASCAR drivers to raise money for the sled project. Participants have included Todd Bodine

Todd Bodine

Todd Bodine is a NASCAR driver. Todd is the younger brother of former racers Geoff Bodine and Brett Bodine. Bodine is known for his bald head, which has given him the nickname The Onion...

(one of Geoffrey Bodine's brothers) and Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart

Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart is an American auto racing driver and owner. Throughout his racing career, Stewart has won titles in Indy cars and stock cars as well as midget, sprint and USAC Silver Crown cars, giving him the recognition of "one of the finest racers of his generation."Stewart...

.

Geoff Bodine now enjoys giving back to the community that supports him. He has served as a volunteer fireman and is now a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation

Make-A-Wish Foundation

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization founded in the United States that grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The charity now operates in forty-seven countries around the world through thirty-six affiliate offices.The president & CEO of this...

.

Bodine was briefly mentioned in the movie Days of Thunder
Days of Thunder
Days of Thunder is a 1990 American auto racing film released by Paramount Pictures, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. The cast includes Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes and Michael Rooker. The film also features appearances...

for coming in third when Cole Trickle won his first race at Darlington.He is friends with Tom Cruise.

Teams and sponsors

The Winston Cup teams for which Geoff Bodine has driven, the sponsors for each year, and the sponsors for the Craftsman Truck Series teams for which he has driven.

Teams

Cliff Stewart 1982-1983
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports , originally named All Star Racing, is a current American auto racing team created in 1984 by Rick Hendrick. The team currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chevrolet Impalas...

1984-1989
Junior Johnson
Junior Johnson
Robert Glenn Johnson, Jr. , better known as Junior Johnson, is a retired moonshiner in the rural South who became one of the early superstars of NASCAR in the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966...

1990-1991
Bud Moore
Bud Moore
Bud Moore may refer to:* Bud Moore , American football player and coach* Bud Moore , former NASCAR owner**Bud Moore Engineering, his team* Bud Moore , former NASCAR driver...

1992-1993 (first 23 races of 1993 season only)
Geoffrey Bodine (owned the car he drove) 1993-1997 (last 7 races of 1993 season only)
Mattei Motorsports 1998
Joe Bessey
Joe Bessey
Joe Bessey is a former NASCAR owner/driver. He won one career Busch Series race before heading back to the Busch Grand National North Series in 2001, where he continues to field teams. In his driving career in that series in the mid-1990s, when he won 21 races and won two championships...

Racing 1999-2000
Brett Bodine Racing
Brett Bodine Racing
Brett Bodine Racing was a NASCAR racing team from 1996 until 2003. It was owned by former NASCAR driver Brett Bodine and his wife of 23 years Diane Bodine . The Bodines purchased the team Brett had driven for in 1995 following that season from Junior Johnson...

2001 and 2003
Phoenix Racing
Phoenix Racing
Phoenix Racing is a NASCAR team owned by James Finch. It currently fields the #51 Chevrolet Impala in the Sprint Cup Series driven by Landon Cassill and the #1 Chevrolet Impala in the Nationwide Series driven by Landon Cassill and Jamie McMurray....

2002
Gary Trout Autosports 2004
Mcdonald Motorsports
Tommy Baldwin Racing
Tommy Baldwin Racing
Tommy Baldwin Racing is a NASCAR team based in Mooresville North Carolina. The team is owned by former crew chief Tommy Baldwin Jr., son of late modified driver Tom Baldwin...

2010-11

Note: In mid-1993, Bodine purchased the race team of the late Alan Kulwicki

Alan Kulwicki

Alan Dennis Kulwicki , nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series racecar driver. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional stock car touring series...

and toward the end of the season, took over as driver. Bodine raced as a driver-owner through 1997.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

NASCAR Modified driver

NASCAR Winston Cup career

Cup career highlights

Daytona crash

New team

Bo-Dyn bobsleds

Teams and sponsors

Teams

Sponsors

External links