:Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project

{{Infobox company

| name = Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc.

| logo = File:Bo-Dyn_Bobsled_Project_logo.jpg

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| foundation = {{Start date|1992}}

| founder = Geoff Bodine

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| location_city = Concord, North Carolina{{cite web|author=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/wire?section=oly&id=4865993|title=Olympic bobsled builder moving to NC's NASCAR core|publisher=ESPN|date=January 28, 2010|access-date=December 14, 2013}}

| location_country = United States

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| key_people = Phil Kurze, President

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| homepage = {{URL|http://www.bodynbobsled.com/}}

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Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc. is a bobsled constructor, founded in 1992 by former NASCAR driver and 1986 Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine, that collaborates on the design, manufacture and supply of U.S.-built racing sleds for the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (USBSF).

The project is classified as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Its sleds are built in NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano's Huntersville, North Carolina race shop.{{cite web|last=Schaefer|first=Paul|url=http://hometracks.nascar.com/nascar_news_whelen-engineering_bo-dyn-bobsled-project_powers_american_olympic_effort_021914|title=Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project Speeds American Winter Olympic Effort In Sochi|publisher=NASCAR Home Tracks|date=February 19, 2014|accessdate=February 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225012448/http://hometracks.nascar.com/nascar_news_whelen-engineering_bo-dyn-bobsled-project_powers_american_olympic_effort_021914|archive-date=February 25, 2014|url-status=dead}}

History

File:USA-1 in heat 3 of 4 man bobsleigh at 2010 Winter Olympics 2010-02-27.jpg]]

Geoff Bodine was watching the 1992 Winter Olympics when he noticed the American team struggling in the bobsled event. At the time, the United States had not won an Olympic bobsled medal since 1956, and was using substandard sleds imported from Europe.{{cite web|url=http://www.solidworks.com/sw/news/pressreleases_29770_ENU_HTML.htm|title=Bo-Dyn Bobsleds Use SolidWorks to Design World’s Fastest Sled|work=SolidWorks|date=March 26, 2013|accessdate=December 14, 2013}} Bodine was invited to Lake Placid to visit the team and take part in demonstration runs. Bodine stated afterwards, "When I heard that our athletes weren't using American-made bobsleds, that was unacceptable." Bodine stated about the project, "I'm glad we did it. No regrets. Not one regret. It's all about 'Made in the USA.' I'm a believer, I love our country . . . and the foundation of our country."{{cite news|author=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/24/AR2010022405240.html|title=For Geoff Bodine, no one-track mind|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 25, 2010|accessdate=January 4, 2014}}

Bodine partnered with race-car builder Bob Cuneo to build sleds. Bodine had recently purchased the assets of AK Racing, and used his leverage and connections as a NASCAR car owner to begin fundraising for the project. The project, known as Bo-Dyn ("Bo" for Bodine, "Dyn" for Chassis Dynamics), started having its sleds used by the U.S. team in 1994.

In 2000, Whelen Engineering Company joined the project as sponsors, while Whelen Vice President Phil Kurze became the project's president the following year.{{cite web|last=Roberson|first=Kim|url=http://insiderracingnews.com/Writers/KR/030710.html|title=Geoff Bodine Proud of Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project|publisher=Inside Racing News|date=March 7, 2010|accessdate=December 18, 2013}}

At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, only the program's second Olympics, the US men's four-man team missed out on the bronze medal by a mere 0.02 seconds. At the 2002. Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA), the team won three bobsled medals:{{cite web|url=http://www.lucasoil.com/articles1-3670/LucasOilProductsRenewsforBoDynBobsledChallenge |title=LUCAS OIL PRODUCTS RENEWS FOR BO-DYN BOBSLED CHALLENGE |work=Lucas Oil |accessdate=December 18, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203093758/http://www.lucasoil.com/articles1-3670/LucasOilProductsRenewsforBoDynBobsledChallenge |archivedate=February 3, 2014 }} a gold in the women's competition, and silver and bronze in the four-man sled.

The project later constructed the "Night Train" sled, the fastest sled in the world. Kurze stated that Night Train cost more than $250,000 to build.{{cite news|last=Riley|first=Lori|url=https://www.courant.com/2013/03/23/building-a-better-bobsled/|title=Building A Better Bobsled|newspaper=Hartford Courant|date=March 23, 2013|access-date=December 18, 2013}} In the 2010 Winter Olympics, the United States used the sled to win its first gold medal since 1948. When asked about the win, Bodine stated,{{cite magazine|last=Martin|first=Bruce|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/bruce_martin/03/01/geoff.bodine.notes/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304182500/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/bruce_martin/03/01/geoff.bodine.notes/|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2010|title=Geoff Bodine's golden dream comes true at Olympics, more racing notes|magazine=Sports Illustrated|accessdate=December 18, 2013}}

{{quote|Winning the Daytona 500 is NASCAR's biggest race. When you win that, it's a great feeling. But the Olympics is worldwide competition. It's incredible. I didn't get a trophy and I didn't get any money for it, but seeing those gold medals hanging on those four athletes felt pretty darn good. To know the whole country was cheering for them felt pretty darn special.}}

On April 30, 2011, Bo-Dyn and the USBSF ended its partnership due to intellectual property disagreements, and BMW became the new bobsled provider.{{cite news|url=http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/525276/Bo-Dyn--US-Bobsled-part-ways.html?nav=5154|title=Bo-Dyn, US Bobsled part ways|newspaper=Adirondack Daily Enterprise|date=June 28, 2011|accessdate=December 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202230735/http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/525276/Bo-Dyn--US-Bobsled-part-ways.html?nav=5154|archive-date=February 2, 2014|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Levanduski|first=Ron|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/sochi/2013/12/25/geoff-bodine-bobsled-project-innovation/4200547/|title=Bo-Dyn project brings innovation to bobsleds|quote=Holcomb's four victories in the two-man competitions have occurred in new sleds built by BMW of North America exclusively for the American men and women.}} Subsequent litigation between the two parties was dropped in 2013.{{cite web|author=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/bobsled/story/_/id/9149091/truce-nascar-geoff-bodine-bobsled-federation|title=Truce for Bo-Dyn, bobsled federation|publisher=ESPN|date=April 8, 2013|access-date=December 14, 2013}} The same year, Bo-Dyn began working on the Night Train 2, which was designed using carbon fiber instead of Kevlar and fiberglass, as carbon fiber provides improved weight distribution.{{cite news|last=Zillgitt|first=Jeff|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2013/08/21/usa-bobsled-night-train-2-sochi-olympics/2682585/|title=USA's top men's bobsled team adjusting to new sled|newspaper=USA Today|date=August 21, 2013|accessdate=December 18, 2013}} Night Train 2 was used by the U. S. team in the 2014 Winter Olympics.{{cite web|url=http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/blogs/Off-Track/nascar-geoff-bodine-steven-holcomb-us-bobsled-team-olympics-sochi.html|title=FORMER NASCAR DRIVER AIDS U.S. BOBSLED TEAM|work=NASCAR|date=January 20, 2014|accessdate=January 20, 2014}}

Bo-Dyn served as Bodine's sponsor in the E-Z-GO 200 Camping World Truck Series race in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://racing-reference.info/race/2010_E-Z-Go_200/C|title=2010 E-Z-Go 200|work=Racing-Reference|accessdate=January 4, 2014}}

Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge

From 2006 to 2010, the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge was held, with funds raised going to the Bo-Dyn project.{{cite web|url=http://www.jayski.com/pages/charities-bobsled.htm|title=BODINE BOBSLED CHALLENGE NEWS|work=Jayski's Silly Season Site|accessdate=December 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202082714/http://www.jayski.com/pages/charities-bobsled.htm|archive-date=December 2, 2013|url-status=dead}} Various NASCAR drivers entered the event, along with NHRA drivers. The inaugural event in 2006 was won by Boris Said{{cite web|author=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|url=https://www.espn.com/racing/news/story?seriesId=2&id=3182912|title=Said wins both races at Bodine Bobsled Challenge|publisher=ESPN|date=March 4, 2008|access-date=December 18, 2013}} along with his brakeman Ryan Johnston, Boris would go on to win the 2007 and 2008 events as well while Todd Bodine and Morgan Lucas won the next challenge.{{cite web|author=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|url=https://www.espn.com/espn/wire?section=auto&id=3809936|title=Bodine, Lucas win Bobsled Challenge|publisher=ESPN|date=January 4, 2009|access-date=December 18, 2013}} The 2010 challenge was won by Joey Logano. On December 21, 2010, it was announced that the challenge would be discontinued.{{cite news|url=http://www.pressrepublican.com/0300_sports/x266421197/Bodine-Bobsled-Challenge-canceled|title=Bodine Bobsled Challenge canceled|newspaper=Press-Republican|date=December 22, 2010|accessdate=December 18, 2013}}