LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Boris Said is no longer king of the mountain. Todd Bodine and Morgan Lucas have taken his place.
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Bodine laid down a fast first run, then held on to edge Joe Gibbs Racing phenom Joey Logano on Sunday and capture the first race at the fourth annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. Lucas beat Bodine in the spectacular second race.
Said, who had won all but one of the first six races since the unique event's inception, finished sixth in the first race and was eliminated in the second.
"First, we've got to keep in mind what it's for. It's a great cause," said Todd Bodine, who also was fastest in qualifying Saturday. "You get a bunch of racers together, and the one thing they all want to do is win. So to come out of here with a win, I'm tickled. It's the first time. Boris has been the king, and I finally got to dethrone him."
Geoff Bodine started the Bobsled Challenge in an effort to raise funds for the U.S. men's and women's bobsled teams. It features NASCAR and NHRA drivers piloting specially made bobsleds, with members of the New York State Army National Guard serving as brakemen.
Todd Bodine, with brakeman Patrick Furman, of nearby Plattsburgh, N.Y., was the only driver to break 50 seconds on both runs of the first race down the difficult Mount Van Hoevenberg track. That left his older brother scratching his head.
"Last year he ran (poorly)," Geoff Bodine said. "The sleds were as even as we could make them this year, and he just drove really good. You could tell. Some guys would be doing really well on the first part of the course, they'd hit some walls, and it slows you down. At the end Boris had a good run, but his first run wasn't good. You've got to have two good runs to be on the podium."
Bodine and Furman finished with a combined time of 1 minute, 39.18 seconds to beat Logano by 0.40 seconds. Still, Logano again proved he's a quick study. He struggled in his inaugural appearance a year ago.
"I'm definitely better this year," Logano said. "I guess I needed about four more tenths. Todd was really fast. I went down the chicane really good the first run, and then I got so excited I forgot the rest of the track and nearly flipped. But this is so much fun. I mean, who gets to drive a bobsled?"
NASCAR Nationwide driver Larry Gunselman's second run was the fastest of the race but left him in third, just 0.02 behind Logano.
"It's the day to be a close third, but to be on the podium is an awful neat experience," said Gunselman, who finished 0.01 behind Todd Bodine in qualifying. "I'm thrilled."
Lucas, who competes in NHRA's top fuel class, was fourth, followed by Funny Car driver Jeg Coughlin Jr., road racers Said and Eric Curran, and NASCAR Whelen series star Brian Loftin. The bottom four sleds were eliminated after the first run, which left ASA driver Danny Bagwell, top fuel drivers JR Todd and Bob Vandergriff, and Whelen racing series champion Philip Morris watching.
It was the end of an impressive run for Said, whose late father drove U.S. bobsleds in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics.
