Bodine determined more then ever to help bobsledders

Friday, Feb. 27, 1998 | 12:01 p.m.

The U.S. bobsledders' failure to win a medal at the Winter Olympics has made Winston Cup driver Geoff Bodine more determined than ever to improve the program.

Bodine has been instrumental in designing and building the Bo-Dyne bobsleds used by the Americans, who once again have respectability in the sport. And he's not about to stop helping and raising money just because the sledders didn't bring home gold, silver or bronze from Nagano, Japan.

"I hope the people who watched the Olympics appreciate all the hard work that goes into something like that," Bodine said. "We hire mechanics to work on the sleds at our expense, and we have to raise the money to do that through sponsorships and fund-raisers."

Bodine still is hopeful the team will win an Olympics medal. That means waiting until 2002 in Salt Lake City.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's already been a success," Bodine said. "We achieved our goal of building American-made bobsleds that were good enough to compete on a worldwide basis, so I kind of feel like it's mission accomplished."

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