CONTACT: Mr. Eric Durr, 518-786-4581 or (cell) 518-429-5186

FOR RELEASE: Saturday, Jan 09, 2010

ON SITE: Lt. Col. Robert Bullock, (cell) 518-248-2155

LAKE PLACID , NY (01/05/2010)-- Twenty members of the New York Army National Guard will serve as brakemen for NASCAR drivers and drag racer drivers from the National Hot Rod Association on the Olympic Regional Development Authority bobsled track on Mount Van Hovenberg January 9 and 10 during the 5th Annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge race. WHO: Twenty Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, headquartered in Morrisonville, New York, 12 drag racers from the National Hot Rod Association, and 12 drivers from NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Auto Racing. WHAT: For the 4th year New York Army National Guard Soldiers will join professional racing drivers in the 5th Annual Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge Presented by Whelen Engineering. The Army National Guard Soldiers will serve as brakemen for the race car drivers who will guide the high-speed sleds down the tracks. The New York Army National Guard Recruiting Command will also have replicas of the NASCAR Army National Guard Car, #88 and an Indy car simulator, on hand for visitors to see. A special Army National Guard bobsled, decorated to look like the #88 car will be part of the racing. WHEN: 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, January 9 and 9 a..m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10. WHERE: Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Center, 421 Old Military Road, Lake Placid New York Members of the media wishing to cover the New York Army National Guard at this event must be accredited by the Olympic Regional Development Authority and the Bodine Bobsled Challenge. Please contact Sandy Caligiore by e-mailing sandy@bodynbobsled.com by close of business on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Coverage Opportunities: Visuals include Soldiers and drivers starting the race and bobsleds moving at high speed. There will be opportunities to interview Soldiers about their participation in the event. There will also be the opportunity to get imagery of visitors inspecting the New York Army National Guard Recruiting display. Additional Information: New York Army National Guard and the Bodine Challenge " As a son of a WWII veteran and a former Army National Guardsmen, I thought we needed some brave people to ride with these drivers and there's no braver folks than our men and women in the U.S. military," Geoff Bodine said during the 2009 race. In 2006, Bodine approached U.S Bobsled National Team Coach Bill Tavares, who is also a 26-year veteran of the Army National Guard, about bringing the Guard into the nationally televised event. "I approached the unit in nearby Saranac Lake to see if I could get them to come over," Tavares said. From there, the request was routed through Regionalal recruiters and the Guard was officially on board." In the first year, Iraq veterans and their families were invited to the event. In other years National Guard recruits and combat veterans have served as brakemen, helping to launch and stop the sleds. "For the participants, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and the coverage the Guard receives is phenomenal...international," said Major David Palmeri, the organizer of the National Guard's 2009 effort. 5th Annual Lucas Oil Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering: Named for organizer Geoff Bodine, the winner of the 1986 Indy 500, the Bodine Bobsled Challenge takes race car drivers out of their normal surroundings and puts them in a bobsled speeding down the three-quarter mile, 16-turn Mount Van Hoevenberg track, site of the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games as well as the 2003 and 2009 World Bobsled Championships. While the goal for any race car driver is to win, the mission of the event is to create awareness and greater funding for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc. Bodine, joined forces with auto racing designer Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics in Oxford, Conn. to create made-in-America bobsleds for the United States men's and women's national teams. Since 2002, the Bo-Dyn effort has produced one Olympic gold medal (Jill Bakken), two silver medals (Todd Hays and Shauna Rohbock) and a bronze (Brian Shimer). Additionally, U.S. team member Steve Holcomb ended a 50 year world championship drought when he drove his four-man Bo-Dyn sled to the world title in Lake Placid last February. The men's and women's squads have claimed numerous World Cup medals this season - five gold among them - in the run-up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. With the help of Bo-Dyn technology, the team is now poised to end a 62-year gold medal drought in the Winter Olympics Photo Cutlines: 090104-F-1403B-0096.jpg: Specialist Patrick Furman, an infantry Soldier from the New York Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry displays a 1st Place plaque he recieved as a brakeman for Todd Bodine during the 2009 Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. Photo by Lt. Col. Robert Bullock, New York Air National Guard 090104-F-1403B-0076.jpg: An infantry Soldier from the New York Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment, keeps his head down while participating as a brakeman during the 2009 Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge. Photo by Lt. Col. Robert Bullock, New York Air National Guard Follow the New York National Guard on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube: FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-Army-National-Guard/112535293973?ref=search&sid=100000443776901.3155842963..1 Twitter:http://twitter.com/NationalGuardNY YouTube athttp://www.youtube.com

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