Geoffrey Bodine

There is no doubt that Geoffrey Bodine was destined to do one thing in his life, and that was race cars. As the oldest of three racing Bodine brothers from Chemung, New York, Geoffrey’s path was paved by his father and grandfather, who built the Chemung Speedrome. By the age of five, Bodine was racing at the family track with micro-midgets. The racing reputation of Geoffrey Bodine grew out of NASCAR’s Northeast Modified division. This was a hotbed of great racing talent and saw Bodine win against the likes of legends like Richie Evans, Ron Bouchard, and Jimmy Spencer. By 1978, Bodine won more races in the modified division than any other driver in its history.

Though Bodine’s NASCAR Cup career would start in 1979, his first win would not come until 1984 at Dover Downs in his first year with Rick Hendrick. The zenith of that partnership would come in 1986 when Bodine won the Daytona 500, giving Hendrick his first Harley J. Earl trophy.

In 570 Cup Series races run over 26 years, Bodine captured 18 wins, with a 190 top-10 finishes and 37 poles. In 1987, Bodine captured the International Race of Champions (IROC) series championship. Bodine was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.