Met The Bodines

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RPMagoo

RPMagoo

Just An Old Motorhead
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Went to a local race, near Watkins Glen, yesterday. All 3 (Geoff, Brett & Todd) Bodine's were there. It was at a track in Chemung N.Y. where all 3 cut their teeth. -- It was a ROC (Touring Asphalt Modifieds) 75 lap race, and a Old Time Racers Reunion, for those Who had raced at Chemung, Shangri La, and Oswego, plus other tracks, in The Northern Tier Of N.Y. -- Matt Hirschman - #60 - was The Winner. -- Great time.
 
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JeffisOld said:
-- No pictures, maybe it didn't happen?

:lol: --
Click to expand...
-- Oh Yeah !! It happened, forgot My camera. - Current picture of The 60, an Geoff, Back In The Day, are file photos. --
Matt Hirschman - #60.JPG
GeoffBodine0033-1.jpg
 
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Good deal!

Not sure if I would have the stones to run that open wheel stuff.

Flip real easy!!!!!
 
Info on Geoff Bodine. --
Geoff Bodine - Guiness Book Of Records.JPG
-- This was all prior to His NASCAR involvement.
 
Geof used to farm out his body work to one of the local dealers I used to work for. Done body work on his car and the cars of Joey Sindelar (pro golfer) and Kurt Manwaring (former MLB player). All decent guys.

Living in the Watkins area all of my life, met many of the drivers over the years. Most are great guys, some not so much. Pretty much like it is from all walks of life.

You were in the area and didn't say hi? Lol
 
Great story Magoo ! Back story : the brothers were originally from Bellingham , Massachusetts . I used to go by their house regularially back in the day . they were not very well received well in the community . Wether by chance or by design they wounded up in New York . They used to race @ Norwood Arena , Westboro Speedway , Seekonk Speedway and Thompson speedway with the likes of Richie Evans , Leo Cleary and such . After the move to N.Y. and during their NASCAR days they were involved in the U.S. Bobsled team @ Lake Placid . Great folks and I'm glad you got to hang with them . Later, Tom
 
Eli Bodine (Todd, Brett, and Geoff's dad) owned/operated Chemung Speedrome back in the day. The whole family is from Chemung, NY. Not sure where the "originally from Bellingham, MA" stuff came from, although I'm sure they could have been living in different areas while their racing careers developed. :

Chemung Speedrome
Track Location:
605 Wyncoop Creek Rd. Chemung N.Y. 14825

Surrounding Area:
12 miles East of Elmira, NY
45 miles West of Binghamton, NY
45 miles South East of Watkins Glen, NY

Track History:
The Chemung Speedrome was originally built as a ¼ mile dirt track in 1951 by the Bodine family of Chemung, NY it closed in 1978. After buying the track in 1985 the current owner started to rebuild the track in 1997 and in October of 2000 had its inaugural race event.
 
383Scampman said:
-- Great story Magoo ! Back story : the brothers were originally from Bellingham , Massachusetts . I used to go by their house regularially back in the day . they were not very well received well in the community . Wether by chance or by design they wounded up in New York . They used to race @ Norwood Arena , Westboro Speedway , Seekonk Speedway and Thompson speedway with the likes of Richie Evans , Leo Cleary and such . After the move to N.Y. and during their NASCAR days they were involved in the U.S. Bobsled team @ Lake Placid . Great folks and I'm glad you got to hang with them . --
Click to expand...
-- They were Chemung N.Y Natives.
 
69_340_GTS said:
-- Eli Bodine (Todd, Brett, and Geoff's dad) owned/operated Chemung Speedrome back in the day. The whole family is from Chemung, NY. Not sure where the "originally from Bellingham, MA" stuff came from, although I'm sure they could have been living in different areas while their racing careers developed. --
Click to expand...
-- Being from Ct., You probably remember some
Bodines - Cars.JPG
, or all of these.
 
The #99 Valiant was so cool. Had a big block Chevy in it. The #1 Dick Armstrong Pinto was incredible. Probably the most beautiful & fastest modified anywhere at that time. They brought a real air of professionalism to the sport of modified racing. Pretty soon guys like Richie Evans and Jerry Cook cleaned up their cars (and acts). Of course, eventually everybody had gorgeous race cars. I believe Geoff got into the Guiness Book of World Records with that #1 (most wins in a season or something). And (almost) nobody remembers: Geoff was Rick Hendrick's first driver, and won the first race for Hendrick in the NASCAR Cup series.
 
Todd, the 3-time NASCAR Craftsman/Camping World truck champ:
2v2Jn5WSqxAYakF.jpg

2v2Jn5WmGxAYakF.jpg


#56 SK modified my friend Andy and I (Bill) helped Todd build/race back in '83:
2v2Jn5W4WxAYakF.jpg

2v2Jn5Wk2xAYakF.jpg
 
Here are some more pics of Geoff's old Valiant:
2v2Jn5GLrxAYakF.jpg

2v2Jn5GCNxAYakF.jpg


How about this Supermodified Geoff raced for a while? (yes, it's an old Indy car with a big block stuffed in the back!):
2v2Jn5GGMxAYakF.jpg

2v2Jn5GqoxAYakF.jpg
 
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Thanks for the thread, bunch of names I remember from growing up in Ct. in the 70's/80's
 
Great memories.
Tom's Speed shop was pretty close to my girlfriend's house in 1978. She would try to get to me before I could get to Tom's on payday, or date night on Saturday would be a low budget affair. She was competing with my Super Bee for my disposable income.
:lol:
 
S'cuder said:
-- Great memories.
Tom's Speed shop was pretty close to my girlfriend's house in 1978. She would try to get to me before I could get to Tom's on payday, or date night on Saturday would be a low budget affair. She was competing with my Super Bee for my disposable income. --
Click to expand...
-- Tom's was a Major Sponsor, Back In The Day. --
Bodine - Tom's Speed Shop.JPG
Bodine - Tom's Speed Shop ---.JPG
 
Geoff's cars were so far ahead of their time, it wasn't funny. Plus, look at how clean, and ship-shape they usually were.
 
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