April 18, 1949
Geoff Bodine
Born in Chemung, New York, USA.
He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers, with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine. Bodine's racing career seemed to be on track right from the start as his father and grandfather, Eli Bodine Jr. and Sr. built Chemung Speedrome just a year after he was born. He began learning his racing skills at this track in the micro-midget division when he was only five years old. He had such an itch to race that he disguised himself as a lady and entered a Powderpuff Division Race when he was 15.
Bodine was quite an accomplished driver before he hit the big-time in NASCAR's premier division, the Winston Cup series with his first start in 1979. By this time, Bodine was well known as a Modified driver in the Northeast, racing against popular drivers like Richie Evans, Jerry Cook, Jimmy Spencer, Ron Bouchard, and others. Bodine earned Modified championships at Stafford Speedway, Shangri-La Speedway, Spencer/Williamson Speedway, and Utica-Rome Speedway. He has won many of the big races in Modifieds including the Lancaster 200 (1978, 1981), Race of Champions (1972 - Trenton, 1978 - Pocono), the Stafford 200 (1978), the Trenton Dogleg 200 (1979), the Thompson 300, the Spring Sizzler (1980 - Stafford Speedway), Oswego Classic (1981), Cardinal Classic (1975 - Martinsville Speedway), Oxford 250 (1980, 1981), and other modified events.
In 1978, Bodine won more races than any other Modified driver in recorded history. Driving cars owned by Dick Armstrong with Billy Taylor and Ralph Hop Harrington as crew chief, Bodine started 84 feature events and won 55 of them. Among the most prestigious of these victories were the Race of Champions at Pocono, the Spring Sizzler at Stafford, the Budweiser 200 at Oswego, both major events at Martinsville, the Thompson 300, and a sweep of the six-race Yankee All-Star League series. For these fifty-five victories, Bodine is credited in the Guinness Book of World Records with "Most wins in one season".
Bodine's racing background also included wins in the Late Model division, Nationwide Series division, and others. He has six Busch Grand National wins to his credit.
In October 2012, Bodine announced through TheRacingExperts.Com that he was retiring from NASCAR after 27 seasons. He finished with a total of 575 Cup series races run over 27 years, with 18 wins, 190 top ten finishes and 37 pole positions.
Achievements & Awards; 1986 Daytona 500 Winner, 1987 IROC Champion, 1994 The Winston Winner, 1992 Busch Clash Winner, 1982 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year, Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, Named one of NASCAR's Modified all-time Top 10 Drivers and listed in the Guinness World Records for "Most wins in one season".
Bodine said he was retiring to spend time with his family and do charitable deeds. In June 2012 he opened a Honda Power Sports dealership in West Melbourne, Florida, where he currently resides.
He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers, with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine. Bodine's racing career seemed to be on track right from the start as his father and grandfather, Eli Bodine Jr. and Sr. built Chemung Speedrome just a year after he was born. He began learning his racing skills at this track in the micro-midget division when he was only five years old. He had such an itch to race that he disguised himself as a lady and entered a Powderpuff Division Race when he was 15.
Bodine was quite an accomplished driver before he hit the big-time in NASCAR's premier division, the Winston Cup series with his first start in 1979. By this time, Bodine was well known as a Modified driver in the Northeast, racing against popular drivers like Richie Evans, Jerry Cook, Jimmy Spencer, Ron Bouchard, and others. Bodine earned Modified championships at Stafford Speedway, Shangri-La Speedway, Spencer/Williamson Speedway, and Utica-Rome Speedway. He has won many of the big races in Modifieds including the Lancaster 200 (1978, 1981), Race of Champions (1972 - Trenton, 1978 - Pocono), the Stafford 200 (1978), the Trenton Dogleg 200 (1979), the Thompson 300, the Spring Sizzler (1980 - Stafford Speedway), Oswego Classic (1981), Cardinal Classic (1975 - Martinsville Speedway), Oxford 250 (1980, 1981), and other modified events.
In 1978, Bodine won more races than any other Modified driver in recorded history. Driving cars owned by Dick Armstrong with Billy Taylor and Ralph Hop Harrington as crew chief, Bodine started 84 feature events and won 55 of them. Among the most prestigious of these victories were the Race of Champions at Pocono, the Spring Sizzler at Stafford, the Budweiser 200 at Oswego, both major events at Martinsville, the Thompson 300, and a sweep of the six-race Yankee All-Star League series. For these fifty-five victories, Bodine is credited in the Guinness Book of World Records with "Most wins in one season".
Bodine's racing background also included wins in the Late Model division, Nationwide Series division, and others. He has six Busch Grand National wins to his credit.
In October 2012, Bodine announced through TheRacingExperts.Com that he was retiring from NASCAR after 27 seasons. He finished with a total of 575 Cup series races run over 27 years, with 18 wins, 190 top ten finishes and 37 pole positions.
Achievements & Awards; 1986 Daytona 500 Winner, 1987 IROC Champion, 1994 The Winston Winner, 1992 Busch Clash Winner, 1982 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year, Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, Named one of NASCAR's Modified all-time Top 10 Drivers and listed in the Guinness World Records for "Most wins in one season".
Bodine said he was retiring to spend time with his family and do charitable deeds. In June 2012 he opened a Honda Power Sports dealership in West Melbourne, Florida, where he currently resides.
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