August 3, 2005

By Rebecca Gladden

Just over a year ago, NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. was seriously burned practicing for an American Le Mans Series race in Sonoma, California. The accident occurred on a rare weekend off for the Cup series in the middle of the hectic summer racing season. After being hospitalized overnight, Earnhardt Jr. was treated as an outpatient for several weeks. He managed to start the next two races, but was replaced early in both by substitute drivers.

At the time of the accident, Earnhardt Jr. was second in the points standings with eight races to go before the start of NASCAR's first Chase for the Championship. In the four races after the accident, Earnhardt experienced a small slump, finishing outside the top 20 in four of the next five races and slipping one spot in the points to third before the Chase began

One of the sequelae of Earnhardt's accident was a debate over the types of activities that drivers should participate in away from the track. Critics argued that a driver owes it to his team, his sponsors and fans to avoid overly risky activities which could lead to serious injury. Junior's primary sponsor, Budweiser, supported his entry in the ALS race: "Although there is always risk in all forms of motorsports, we support Dale Jr.'s efforts to become the most successful driver he can be," a Budweiser spokesman said at the time.

Many Cup drivers enjoy potentially hazardous activities in the offseason. Elliott Sadler hunts. Jeff Gordon scuba dives with sharks. Others drive motorcycles, go-karts, dune buggies, and race cars - either in testing for the their teams or in other forms of the sport.

Cup driver Ken Schrader, who just celebrated his 50th birthday, drives in about 60 non-Cup races per year. "If you just race on Cup weekends, then it's your job," Schrader said last season. "But racing is still my hobby. It's what I love to do. It seems like, if there's a weekend and there's a race, then I'm supposed to be in it."

In reality, NASCAR drivers can do whatever they want away from the track, unless otherwise restricted by their car owner or by sponsor sanctions. Nevertheless, some will argue that safety is a valid concern in a driver's choice of offseason activities.

Now comes news that a number of Cup and Busch drivers may participate in a surprising activity early in 2006.

Bobsledding.

Yes, bobsledding, which the encyclopedia describes as a sport of exhilarating but dangerous speeds. Bobsledding, in which a partially enclosed vehicle with steerable, sled-like runners, hurtles down a course of iced, steeply banked, twisting inclines.

Former NASCAR driver Geoffrey Bodine, winner of the 1986 Daytona 500, is proposing a bobsled race starring several prominent drivers in January 2006, in Lake Placid, New York. The event would be a fundraiser for Bodine's bobsled-building company, Bo-Dyn's, which creates sleds for U.S. Olympic bobsled teams using NASCAR technology. In addition, it would draw interest to the sport and to the U.S. Olympic bobsled teams.

Said Bodine, "Like NASCAR, the sport is about racing, rules and changes in technology, which mandates R&D and costs money. I need some other NASCAR people to assist me with the project. The best way is to get them into a bobsled environment and give them a feel for the sport. They will not be disappointed."

According to the Bo-Dyn Project website, participating drivers will start two-thirds of the way up a bobsled run and will drive training sleds at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. The sleds will carry the same colors and sponsor logos as the drivers' NASCAR vehicles.

The Associated Press reports that the drivers will be asked to pay $50,000 each to participate in the event. The teams would consist of a two-man crew with a NASCAR team member serving as the brakeman.

So far only Boris Said, whose father was on the U.S. Olympic bobsled team in 1972, has made a firm commitment to the event. However, Bodine reports that a number of prominent NASCAR drivers have expressed an interest in participating: "Every single guy I've talked to said he'd love to do it. Tony (Stewart)'s ready. He wants to do it. Jeff Burton wants to be involved. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, they all want to do this if the time allows them."

For many NASCAR drivers, it seems one adrenaline rush is as good as the next.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.