Countdown: New York

From Niagara Falls to old Broadway, the Empire State is all about big. View the Big Apple from the Empire State Building, check out baseball's big leaguers in Cooperstown, relive rock's wildest party at Woodstock or root on that brave old Army team at West Point.

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Start spreading the news, because New York, New York is a helluva town -- and the first capital of the United States -- but the Big Apple is only part of this state's story.

With a quarter of the land used for farming, New York produces more cabbage than any other state and is second only to California in wine production.

New York was the birthplace of four presidents -- Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore and Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt -- and countless celebrities and famous folks. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Norman Rockwell and Jonas Salk can all claim to be native New Yorkers.

New York's connection to NASCAR has remained strong since the early days of the sport. A trio of brothers continues a winning tradition to this day.

	Credit: David Taylor/Getty Images
	Inside the Numbers Geoffrey Bodine's Cup stats Starts 570 Wins 18 Top-5s 100 Top-10s 190 Poles 37 Laps Led 8,683 Avg. Start 13.8 Avg. Finish 18.4 Earnings $16,518,091

Best behind the wheel

• Geoffrey Bodine, Chemung

Some boys have their father build them a tree fort in the backyard. In Geoffrey Bodine's case, it was the Chemung Speedrome.

Bodine, the oldest of the three racing brothers, was 1 when grandfather Eli and father Eli Jr. decided to make a dirt track out of an old cornfield.

"They stepped out the racetrack, took a plow and a mechanical grader and built a racetrack," Bodine told the Elmira Star-Gazette in 2002. "There happened to be a pond up the road a little bit and it worked out well. It was a dirt track, and they needed that water to keep the dust down. Everything fell into place. That side hill ended up being the grandstand."

As a child, Bodine worked on the family chicken farm and at the dairy store.

"I shoveled lots of chicken dung, then had to go out in the field and spread it," he said. "I had to collect the eggs, wash them, separate them into different sizes and package them. I collected hay and corn for feed and put silage in the silo. We also had the racetrack so I had to work up there, too -- picking up trash during the week, getting on that grader."

But it wasn't all work. At 5, Bodine started racing micro-midgets at the Speedrome. After high school, Bodine raced one season at his father's track, then set off to run Modifieds for car owner T.K. McLean at Shangri-La Speedway in Owego in 1969.

Over the next 10 years, Bodine would become a force in the Modified division, under the tutelage of car owner Dick Armstrong. In one season, Bodine won 55 of the 74 races he entered.

Armstrong also fielded Sportsman cars -- and Bodine saw the opportunity and grabbed it. He finished second to Joe Millikan in the 1978 Permatex Sportsman 300 at Daytona.

That landed Bodine a ride in the 1979 Daytona 500, where he finished 29th in his Cup debut. He ran twice more -- with a best of 22nd -- before heading back to the Modified ranks.

Bodine returned to run five more races in 1981, including a seventh-place finish at Charlotte, before accepting a full-time ride six races into the 1982 season. Bodine won poles at the summer Daytona and Talladega races and posted 10 top-10 finishes to earn rookie of the year honors.

Starting with his victory at Martinsville in 1984, Bodine would go on to win 18 Cup races -- including the 1986 Daytona 500 -- and post 190 top-10 finishes in 570 career starts over a 25-year span.

Bodine was also an innovator, one of the first to wear a full-face helmet and to equip a stock car with power steering, both standard equipment today.

That innovative trait carried over to winter sports. In 1992, Bodine formed a company to produce bobsleds for the United States team, which resulted in three medals in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Brett Bodine Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Other noteworthy drivers from New York

• Brett Bodine, Chemung: Current Nextel Cup pace car driver scored only victory at North Wilkesboro in 1990, one of his 61 top-10s

• Todd Bodine, Chemung: 21 top-10s in 226 career Cup starts, won four of the last six Truck races in 2005

• Earl Canavan, Fort Johnson: 12th in the 1973 Southern 500 was his best effort in 69 starts from 1969-86

• Jerry Cook, Rome: Captured six Modified titles between 1971 and 1977

• Richie Evans, Rome: Winner of more than 400 features, nine-time Modified champ won eight titles in a row from 1978 until 1985

Todd Bodine Credit: Autostock

• Janet Guthrie, New York: First female to compete in the Indianapolis 500 finished 11th and 12th in two Daytona 500 appearances

• Doug Heveron, Liverpool: Posted 10 top-20s in 31 races over a three-year span in the '80s

• Jim Hurtubise, North Tonawanda: Open-wheel legend competed over a 20-year span, with a win in the 1966 Atlanta 500

• Al Keller, Buffalo: Won twice in 1954, including a victory in a Jaguar at the Linden Airport course

• Ralph Liguori, Bronx: 30 top-10s in 76 races from 1951-56

• Dick May, Watertown: Sixth at Asheville in 1971 marked his best finish in 185 starts

• Lloyd Moore, Frewsburg: Had 13 top-five finishes, including a victory on the Winchester high banks in 1950

• Steve Park, East Northpoint: Wins at Watkins Glen and Rockingham; promising career derailed by freak accident during Busch race at Darlington in 2001

• Billy Rafter, Clarence Center: Ford pilot posted 11 top-10s in 35 starts during the '50s

• Jim Reed, Peekskill: All seven of his wins came in a two-year span starting in 1958, topped by the 1959 Southern 500

• Bill Rexford, Conowango Valley: Youngest NASCAR champ ran only five years with a lone victory in 1950

• Greg Sacks, Mattituck: Surprise winner of the 1985 Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona, ran career start total to 263 with a pair of appearances in 2005

• Al White, Buffalo: Sixth at Pittsburgh in 1960 was his best effort in 36 events

• Jack White, Lockport: won at Hamburg in 1949 in his NASCAR debut, cracked the top-10 twice more over the next two seasons

We wish ...

Baseball iron man Lou Gehrig had become a NASCAR driver.

Like many of NASCAR's veteran drivers, Gehrig's durability and consistency could not be questioned. The New York native played in 2,130 consecutive games, batted .340 and slugged 493 home runs over a 17-year career.

Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Watkins Glen winners Year Winner 1957 Buck Baker 1964 Billy Wade 1965 Marvin Panch 1986 Tim Richmond 1987 Rusty Wallace 1988 Ricky Rudd 1989 Rusty Wallace 1990 Ricky Rudd 1991 Ernie Irvan 1992 Kyle Petty 1993 Mark Martin 1994 Mark Martin 1995 Mark Martin 1996 Geoffrey Bodine 1997 Jeff Gordon 1998 Jeff Gordon 1999 Jeff Gordon 2000 Steve Park 2001 Jeff Gordon 2002 Tony Stewart 2003 Robby Gordon 2004 Tony Stewart 2005 Tony Stewart

Keeping it on the track

• Watkins Glen International

Law student Cameron Argetsinger dreamed of bringing European style competition to the village where he spent his summer vacations and he drew up a challenging course that encompassed asphalt, cement and dirt roads in and around the village of Watkins Glen. The dream became reality on Oct. 2, 1948, "The Day They Stopped the Trains," in the first post-World War II road race in the U.S. For five years, the top names in American sports car racing visited the small village and huge crowds came out to watch them race.

Competition moved to a temporary course in 1953, and 2.3-mile permanent circuit was built in 1956. The following year, The Glen hosted its first professional race, a NASCAR Grand National event won by Buck Baker over Fireball Roberts. True international competition began in 1958 with the running of a Formula Libre race.

Gone but not forgotten

• Islip Speedway, Islip

The one-fifth-mile track most known for its demolition derbies and figure-eight events hosted six races between 1964 and 1971 -- making it the shortest track ever used in Cup competition.

Bobby Allison and Richard Petty traded victories over the final four races, with Petty beating Friday Hassler by two laps to win the 1971 Islip 250.

When NASCAR decided to eliminate all races under 250 miles, Islip was dropped from the schedule. The track is now the site of a manufacturing plant.

Other tracks which have hosted NASCAR races

• Airborne Speedway, Plattsburg: Lee Petty won at the dirt half-mile in 1955

• Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta: Richard Petty won both races on the paved third-mile

• Altamont-Schenectady Fairgrounds, Altamont: In 1951, Fonty Flock finished first; Junior Johnson did the same in 1955

• Bridgehampton Raceway, Bridgehampton: Long Island road course hosted four races between 1958 and 1966

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• Civic Stadium, Buffalo: Jim Reed won on the asphalt quarter-mile inside the football stadium

• Fonda Speedway, Fonda: Buck Baker was the only driver to start all four races at the paved half-mile

• Hamburg Speedway, Hamburg: Jack White and Dick Linder won races on the dirt half-mile

• Monroe County Fairgrounds, Rochester: NASCAR visited the dirt half-mile eight times between 1950 and 1958, with Lee Petty winning twice

• Montgomery Air Base, Montgomery: The only race on a two-mile runway road course was won by Rex White in 1960

• New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse: The Syracuse Mile hosted three races, won by Tim Flock, Buck Baker and Gwyn Staley

• Shangri-La Speedway, Owego: Tim Flock took the 200-lapper at the paved half-mile in 1952; now known as Tioga Speedway

• State Line Speedway, Busti: Shorty Rollins was the winner on the dirt third-mile in 1958

• Vernon Fairgrounds, Vernon: The dirt half-mile hosted two races in 1950, won by Bill Blair and Dick Linder

A word from our sponsor

• Eastman Kodak, Rochester

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BWD Automotive, based in Long Island City, distributes and markets premium quality replacement auto parts for foreign and domestic vehicles under brand names such as Borg-Warner and Niehoff.