Geoff, Brett Bodine To Team In Daytona Prototype For Sahlen’s Six Hours Of The Glen

[Edmonton]

From http://www.grand-am.com/
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (May 14, 2003) -- Native sons Geoff and Brett Bodine will return to Watkins Glen International to co-drive a Daytona Prototype in the June 20-22 Sahlen's Sports Car Grand Prix. The pair will join Darren Law in the 95.1 The NerVe/Sahlen's G&W Motorsports BMW-powered Picchio DP2 for the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, marking the first time the Chemung drivers have driven together in their careers.

"That's going to be a lot of fun in itself, with Brett and I driving the same car," said Geoff Bodine. "Being back home at Watkins Glen in front of our family, friends and fans will make it real special. I just hope we do real good."

"This is a totally different car than anything I've ever driven before," admitted Brett Bodine. "We got comfortable in the car during testing, and once we're on a track we know as well as Watkins Glen, we should do very well. I'm looking forward to going back home to The Glen and trying to win that race."

The Daytona Prototypes are the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series new lead class and will be coming to Watkins Glen International for the first time. G&W Motorsports is currently ranked second in the team owner points, while Law ranks third in the driver standings behind two-time winners Hurley Haywood and J.C. France.

"I'm really excited about driving with the Bodines," said Law, the 2001 Rolex Series GT champion. "Both of them are very well known, and they are good, fast drivers. They were very impressive in testing."

Geoff won in his first sports car race at The Glen, joining Jack Baldwin behind the wheel of a Camaro in taking GTO honors in the 1986 Camel Continental. The oldest of three racing brothers, he also won at The Glen in NASCAR Winston Cup (1996) and the True Value International Race of Champions, taking the 1987 IROC XI title with that victory. His varied Watkins Glen resume also includes racing snowmobiles in 1972, Modifieds and NASCAR Craftsman Trucks.

Brett's first trip around The Glen was as driver of the Ford pace car for the 1985 New York 500. His best finish in 14 Winston Cup races here was a third in 1990, trailing only Ricky Rudd and his brother, Geoff.

"I was very impressed with both brothers in testing with our car," said G&W team owner Cole Scrogham. "Brett, being a team owner, knows the ropes and offered great suggestions. Neither of them were out to act like a hero -- they were both very careful with the equipment. Also, both of them were very fast."

Practice for the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen begins on Friday, June 20, followed by one of two weekend Grand-Am Cup races. Saturday's schedule includes Rolex Series qualifying for the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen and the second Grand-Am Cup race. The Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen takes the green flag at 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 22.

Tickets for the Sahlen's Sports Car Grand Prix, as well as the entire 2003 racing season at Watkins Glen International, are now available by calling The Glen's ticket office at 607-535-2481 or online at www.theglen.com. For the finest Watkins Glen International items and apparel, motorsports collectibles, and authentic NASCAR merchandise, diecasts and clothing, stop by The Shop at 2 North Franklin Street in Watkins Glen or call 607-535-2338.

[danhx]

The line between NASCAR and Grand-Am grows ever the more hazy.

[Tim Northcutt]

I'll bet that the DP is "a lot different than what they normally drive"

Unlike a DP, a Winston Cup car has pretty good horsepower....

[flatlander_48]

God willing, I'll be there. But then again, I'm planning on being there for the 2 vintage weekends also. Phil Hill will be the guest for the first vintage weekend in early June.

[Chevyguy]

danhx, i think your looking at this from the wrong angle. Seeing Winston Cup drivers joining in is more like the good ol' days when endurance racing was a melting pot of drivers from all series. If NASCAR drivers are not welcome additions to the events in your eyes, then you are not hoping for a positive future in sportscar racing. Remember, Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt both raced Winston Cup and were outstanding in endurance racing. The Bodines are hardly the stature of the preceeding, but you get my drift.

[Tim Northcutt]

I agree, ChevyGuy!!!!!

It is one of the reasons why I have always enjoyed Indy...

To see guys like Johnny Herbert come here last year to try to make the show was a fun and (as time would down toward the final day of qualifiying) compelling story, as he watched the weather forcast for Sunday to see if he could qualify, then jump on a plane to get to Sears Point for the second half of the ALMS race..

(The forcast was too "iffy" and he opted to leave Indy without making a Sunday run)...

[gttouring]

Endurance racing is the melting pot for all drivers and even sportsmen and journeymen can join and put up a fight and win, good for the nascar boys and Grand-Am for bringing up some higher profile people to the series, but the GA-NASCAR connection is so obvious the Frances are trying to infuse the struggling series, a unification with the ALMS is a better idea than the INDY and CART union, afterall at least INDY and CART are aiming at different things , the GA and ALMS are the same thing with different budgets, nice try on GA's part but the Bodine's? why not get GORDON and Johnson in the series, high profile and real winners would be better, like the Earnhardt's at daytona...Ugh North american racing is a mess.

[Chevyguy]

HA HA!!!! I couldn't help whil reading our post, the thought of ALMS combined with GA, complete with a DP class! That would REALLY annoy the Audi drivers! lol

[gttouring]

yeah the moving chicanes would really make some intersting racing and picking for the LM900's and the GTS class

[danhx]

Originally posted by Chevyguy
danhx, i think your looking at this from the wrong angle. Seeing Winston Cup drivers joining in is more like the good ol' days when endurance racing was a melting pot of drivers from all series. If NASCAR drivers are not welcome additions to the events in your eyes, then you are not hoping for a positive future in sportscar racing. Remember, Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt both raced Winston Cup and were outstanding in endurance racing. The Bodines are hardly the stature of the preceeding, but you get my drift.

I get your drift, but i'm not totally sure you get mine. To say that drivers from other series are not welcome in endurance racing was not my intention; rather i meant exactly what i said, nothing more. I welcome guys like Herbert and the Earnhardts as it brings more exposure to out brand of racing, and i hope that guys like Jeff Gordon, Michael Schumacher, etc. find their way into sportscars after the end of the their current activities. My comment mainly came from the fact that i look at everything associated with Grand-Am with a disparaging glance. The last thing i want is the transplantation of a NASCAR-esque theme into sportscar racing, and with the Bodines' introduction to the series whose top cars carry the same ideology that drives stock cars, I am skeptical of the origins of such a plan. It smells French, and i'm not referring to the country.

While I do want to see more sportscar fans, I don't like the way Grand-Am is going about trying to lure them in and I don't want a large group of peope who consider the DPs to be true sportscars. My comment was out of spite for the DPs and Grand-Am, not against "moonlighting" drivers.

[Chevyguy]

Sorry if I implied you said something that you didn't. I myself do not think "the line grows hazy" as of yet. While the DPs had promotions at a few NASCAR races, they did not receive any TV coverage during the broadcast. This shows that France is not yet full bore into GA. It would seem to me, that if they wanted to NAShole GA, they wold have put the DP on during the broadcasts to make sure that the masses got a glimpse of the cars. As far as the Bodines racing, I don't think they want to promote the series as much as getting t have a blast racing in their hometown.

[BSchneiderFan]

Good to see Cup drivers breaking out a bit. I was disappointed that nothing more came of the Earnhardts' stint in a Chevy (nor will it, now - RIP Dale), and it's good to see Robby Gordon and Tony Stewart occasionally taking in a bit of road racing. Now, if we could get Jeff Gordon and Little E at Sebring next year...

[danhx]

I'd like to see Gordon in a sportscar, but apparently "Little E" really wasn't very good in the Corvette. Some team insiders said his dad was actually VERY good.

[BSchneiderFan]

Yes, that was real untapped potential. I'd never been much of a NASCAR fan, but the death of Earnhardt was a shock like few others.

Wasn't there a plan at the same time to get several of the Pettys in a Viper?

[Chevyguy]

Jr. had some spins, but hey, the guy was not a very experienced racer, all he knew was ovals, and it was VERY wet. The Jr. of now would have faired much better. When he hurt the team was when car broke a half shaft, and he said gearbox. They replaced the gearbox, then later replaced the half shaft. He didn't know, but I'm sure the P&M boys were getting real ticked off at him. If it weren't for that incident, it would have been a Corvette 1-2.

[Lee Janotta]

The thing that infuriates me most about the Grand-Am/NASCAR/IRL connection is that the NASCAR and IRL drivers _can't_ do ALMS events, lest they be blacklisted. I'm no particular fan of either series, but but it'd be great to see Scott Sharp or Robby Gordon showing up at Sebring. My absolute favorite thing about enduros is drivers from other series showing up in their regular firesuits with their normal sponsors, to drive with two other guys who they might even be racing directly against on any other Sunday. It's something I really miss these days, especially when the factory teams insist guys wear the team uniform, even if it's just for one race.

And dammit, dammit, dammit.... Why don't the CART guys ever do Sebring or LeMans anymore? It really sucks!

[Chevyguy]

It's just this age of racing. Each car is so specialized in every type of motorsport, it takes constant testing and practice just to keep up. Who has time to do anything but what you are already doing? Everybody's busy with their commercial shoots and interviews, and God forbid you get to see your family. That's where the DPs have somewhat of an advantage. With such a neutral car, anyone with a good racing breakground has a chance to perform well in them.

[Lee Janotta]

Not entirely true. What about a supersub like Gunnar Jeanette? The guy's easily as fast as his teammates whatever he drives, even with _no_ practice. Like that Saleen he drove at Daytona two years ago, when Franz Konrad missed his flight!

As for the commercials... Well, the CART guys don't have any excuse there, half of them don't have sponsors!

[Tim Northcutt]

To LeeJanotta:

NASCAR and/or IRL drivers would be "blacklisted" if they drove ALMS???

I had no idea that was the case...

The two drivers you mentioned above -- Sharp and Robby Gordon -- would be at the top of my driver list if I were to hit the "Powerball" jackpot for many millions...(and you better believe that I'd be forming an ALMS team as the $$$ guy to fund an LMP program) to run at Sebring, Petit and/or Le Mans itself....

Since they are both seemingly entrenched in their current rides, I guess I won't be able to even hope to see either of them in any ALMS event.....

I had wondered why neither has been picked up as a 3rd driver for Sebring, as an example...now I know...

[Tim Northcutt]

By The Way....

Watch the various Auto Racing websites around June 11 or 12 for an interesting event....

NASCAR's Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya will both be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the F-1 road course that day....

Jeff will drive one of the Williams BMW F-1 cars on the circuit and Montoya will drive Jeff's Monte Carlo on the same circuit...

Jeff Gordon is fast in anything that has four wheels...I'm interested in seeing how he does in a light, high horsepower F-1 machine....

[Chevyguy]

Hmmmm...Gordon's my dude, I hope he doesn't mess up, or I've got a whole slew of hicks talkin' trash at me. I'm very curious to see how both handle the differant cars.

What's rather scary though, F1 and NASCAR teaming up? Is this some sort of world domination scheme?

If I were Montoya, I'd be mad that I couldn't take the Monte Carlo around the oval. He deserves to drive the car the way it is intended.

[Lee Janotta]

Hah, like they could stop Juan if he wanted to go the other way?

"Okay, he's coming around again, go stand out on the straight and make him stop."

"Yes sir."

VROOOOOOOM!!!!

"Uhm... He didn't stop sir."

"Well, he probably didn't see you... Go wave this red flag at him."

In the end, I think Jeff'll do a very credible job. I really dislike him personally, but he's a very talented driver, and considering he came up driving 600hp open-wheel cars on dirt, I don't think there's a damn thing he couldn't drive competently.

But if Montoya got to do some timed laps on the oval in the Monte Carlo, he'd probably do times that'd put him in the top ten for the Brickyard 400!

[Lee Janotta]

Tim, I can't prove that any of the NASCAR or IRL guys would get blacklisted... But it smells pretty damn funny when Robby and Scott keep showing up for Grand-Am races, but never for Sebring, even though the race doesn't conflict with any Winston Cup or IRL events.

NASCAR _does_ control Grand-Am, and IMSA is the sworn enemy, _and_ they have a strategic alliance with the IRL, that much is fact.

Blacklisting wouldn't be anything as overt as tossing you from the series... But maybe the officials start looking a lot more closely at your car, impounding it to be torn apart more often... Maybe looking a little harder to black flag you for aggressive driving. There's a lot they can do to ruin your career without tossing you out on your ear.

[Tim Northcutt]

The reason behind why Jeff Gordon and Jaun Montoya are doing this:

This has been cooked up by Tony George and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway....andd it has nothing to do with NASCAR and F-1 becoming "buddies" at all...

Jeff lived for many years just west of Indy (Pittsboro, Ind.), and people love him here from his teenage days racing and winning everything in sight in the USAC Midget and USAC Silver Crown Sprinters before he went to NASCAR...his move to the stockers, as opposed to CART, was a major disappointment for race fans here, who wanted Jeff to have the chance to race in the 500...

But Jeff didn't have the $$$ to come to the table to buy his way into a Cahmp Car, and when doors didn't seem to open for him, the obvious route was Hendricks and Busch Grand National as a stepping stone to NASCAR....

It is no secret in Indy that the F-1's U.S. Grand Prix ticket sales are seriously lagging, but NASCAR is king here in the States....the "switch" is a PR ploy to sell the few remaining Brickyard 400 tix plus push sales for the US Grand Prix in September....

BTW...in case you don't remember, Juan has driven the Oval at Indy...he won the Indy 500 a few years ago when he drove for Target/Ganassi Racing.....

[danhx]

I originally heard this story sometime late last year. Some unforeseen event prevented it from being done, but i remember the reason having something to do with a shared sponsor. That may or may not still be the case - i think not since i can't recall any mutual sponsor between the two teams - but using the "test" to generate interest in the U.S. Grand Prix sounds like a pretty decent idea. I wonder if Jeff will be able to past a time that would qualify him for the G.P....How hard can it be to beat a Minardi's time in a Williams? I hope they release the times so we can find out.