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Geoff Bodine Biography |
Geoff Bodine was born as Geoffrey Bodine in Chemung, New York on April 18, 1949. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine) who are all NASCAR drivers. Geoff now lives in Cornelius, NC.
Geoff'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 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 5 years old.
Geoff was quite an accomplished driver before he hit the big-time in NASCAR's premier division, the Winston Cup series (now Nextel Cup series) with his first start in 1979. By this time, Geoff was well known as a Modified driver in the northeast racing against popular drivers like Richie Evans, Jimmy Spencer, Ron Bouchard, and others. Geoff had earned Modified championships at Stafford Speedway, Shangri-La, Tioga Speedway, 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 Classic (1981), Cardinal Classic (1975 - Martinsville Speedway), Oxford 250 (1980, 1981), as well as many other modified events.
Geoff's racing background also included wins in the Late Model division, Bush Grand National division, NASCAR Truck series, and others. He has six Busch Grand National wins to his credit.
Geoff is most well know for his NASCAR Winston Cup (now Nextel 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 in 1984. Geoff's biggest win came at the 1986 Daytona 500. The season opener, Daytona 500, is NASCAR's most prestigious single event. Other career highlights include the 1987 International Race of Champions, the 1992 Busch Clash, the 1994 Winston Select (despite a first segment spinout), and the 1994 Busch Pole award.
Throughout his career Geoff has driven for some of the best car owners in NASCAR, including Junior Johnson, Bud Moore and Rick Hendrick 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. Geoff has always been a great innovator and brought many ideas to Winston Cup. He introduced power steering and full-faced helmets to Winston Cup. He is also credited in the Guinness Book of World Record's with "Most wins in one season" with fifty-five modified race wins.
Geoff was the victim of one of the worst crashes in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck race at Daytona on February 18, 2000. He got banged up but was not seriously injured. His recovery caused him to miss the first third of the 2000 season. He broke his right wrist, a vertebrae, his right ankle, and got a concussion when his truck hit the wall at 190 mph and flipped wildly down the track while in flames. Nine fans were also injured during this incident.
Geoff's creativity and innovation are not just limited to NASCAR racing. Geoff is the co-owner of the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Company. His bobsled interest started during the 1992 Winter Olympics when the U.S. Bobsled Team was having a tough time during competition. Geoff 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, Geoff took a few runs in a bobsled at Lake Placid, New York 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 Geoff and his good friend and chassis builder, Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics. Geoff 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 in Salt Lake City.
Geoff Bodine now goes by Geoffrey and 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. |
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