Benson to participate in Bodine Bobsled Challenge

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Craftsman Truck Series champion Johnny Benson will compete in the fourth annual Whelen Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge on Jan. 2-4, 2009, at the Olympic Sports Complex.

Benson will join a field that also includes NASCAR drivers Boris Said, a five-time Challenge champion; 2008 Whelen All-American Series champion Philip Morris; former Truck Series champion Todd Bodine; 2009 Cup Series rookie Joey Logano; and NHRA POWERade Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr.

SPEED again will televise four hours of the Challenge, at noon on Jan. 18 and at 2 p.m. on Jan. 25.

Benson, who competed in his first Challenge last year, won his first Truck Series championship after finishing third in 2007 and runner-up to Todd Bodine in 2006.

Todd Bodine has participated in every Challenge and has started a similar support program for the U.S. Skeleton Federation.

The Challenge features NASCAR and NHRA drivers piloting specially-made bobsleds down Lake Placid's famous track in races geared to raise money for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project. In Race 1, all drivers compete against the clock in two runs down the track. Race 2 features head-to-head racing between the NASCAR and NHRA drivers, with the winner from each division squaring off in the final heat.

Said leads the NASCAR field and has dominated, losing only the inaugural Bodine Bobsled race to Kevin Lepage. Said has commented in the past that maybe "bobsledding is in my genes" as his father, Bob Said was an Olympic bobsled competitor.

Other participants include 2008 Touring Division champions Brian Loftin and Ted Christopher. Rounding out the field are Grand-Am Rolex Series driver Eric Curran and 19-year-old Sprint Car driver Tom Tolbert from Ohio, and NHRA Top Fuel drivers Lucas, J.R. Todd and Bob Vandergriff.

MRN will provide live coverage of the Challenge on all three days.

The Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc., was started in 1992 by NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine and has built American-made bobsleds for United States athletes competing in the World Cup, World Championships and Olympic Winter Games. Money raised from the Challenge goes directly to this project.

The Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project concept paid dividends with gold, silver and bronze medals in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, the first time that the USA Bobsled Team won Olympic medals since 1956; and scored again with silver in Torino, Italy, in 2006.

New sled designs are being created by Bodine and sled builder Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics in Connecticut. It will be tested during national and international competitions leading up to the next Olympic Winter Games at Vancouver in 2010.

Fan packages, interactive offerings and event merchandise for the Challenge may be purchased online at www.bodynbobsled.com.