Neil Bonnett in 1985. Taken by Ted Van Pelt. (Wiki Commons)

Lawrence Neil Bonnett, later known as Neil Bonnett, later part of the famous “Alabama Gang”, was born on the 30th July 1947 in Hueytown, Alabama. During his eighteen year career as a nascar racing driver he ran in 362 races with eighteen wins, 156 top tens and poles.

His first race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was in 1974 in the Winston Cup Series, Nashville 420 at Nashville and gained his first victory in 1977 at the Capital City 400 in Richmond, Virginia whilst driving for the Harry Hyde/Jim Stacy Racing team, taking another victory in the same year at the Los Angeles Times 500. Onlookers expected the following year to be Neil’s year but due to equipment and financial troubles for the team many of the cars that he raced experienced problems and had to pull out. 1979 saw him driving for the Woods Brothers Racing team, taking three victories.

He won NASCAR’s longest race, the World 600 (now the Coca Cola 600) in 1982 and 1983 and also the Busch Clash (now the Bud Shootout) in 1983 and 1984. Joining Junior Johnson’s team in 1984 he went on to have one of his best seasons in 1985 when he finished fourth in the points placing. On 1st April 1990 he suffered a near fatal crash at Darlington, South Carolina during the TranSouth 500. His car hit the water barrels at the pit stop and Neil suffered cracked ribs, a broken sternum and amnesia, forcing him into recovery and retirement from racing for three years.

During this time Neil became a television colour commentator (colour analyst) with TNN, CBS sports and TBS Sports. A sports commentator is the person who assists the main commentator by filling in any time when play is not in progress. In motor racing coverage, the colour analyst provides expert analysis and background information, such as statistics, strategy and injury reports. He was also the host for the show “Winners” for TNN. Neil was a very popular television commentator and host but despite this the lure of the race track was never very far away and he started to test cars for pals Dale Earnhardt and Richard Childress in 1992.

In 1993 Neil was given the all clear to be able to race again and was promised a car for the 1993 Diehard 500 at Talladega Superspeedway but, unfortunately, his car had a spin-out, took to the air and collided with the spectator fence. He was uninjured and he finished the race in the CBS broadcast booth. He was also driving in the final race of the season at Atlanta but was called off after three laps, supposedly because the engine had blown but as he was teamed with Dale Earnhardt, the point’s leader in this season’s championships; it could have been to secure the three points needed for Dale to win the season’s championship. This was his last championship start. Disappointing but Neil was not discouraged because he had secured a car and sponsorship for at least six races in the 1994 season, including the season opening Daytona 500 but on 11thFebruary, 1994, during the first practice session for the 1994 Daytona 500 his car suffered a right front tyre failure in the track’s fourth turn. His car hit the outside wall nearly head-on. Neil was taken to the Halifax Medical Centre but he was found to have died at the scene of the crash. He is buried in Pleasant Grove’s cemetery, Forest Grove Memorial Gardens. He left a widow, Susan, a son, David (also a NASCAR driver) and a grandson, Justin. Neil has been awarded Named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers, Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame in 1997 and Inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2001. A road called “Allison-Bonnett Memorial Drive” in his hometown is honoured by him, along with fellow driver Davey Allison, who died in1993.

Neil also raced in the International Race of Champions during 1979, 1980 and 1984 finishing second twice. Neil’s career also touched on film and television when he appeared in television movies, Bandit; Bandit Goes Country and Daytona 500 and the big screen cinema in Stoker Ace and Days of Thunder. Neil was considered to be one of the nicest, most popular drivers in NASCAR’s history.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Bonnett

http://www.gonascargo.com/drivers/neil-bonnett.php

http://imdb.com/name/nm0094997/bio

Geoff Bodine watches a karaoke performance on the mess decks with Sailors aboard nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz - Wiki Commons

Geoff Bodine is the eldest of three brothers including Brett and Todd.  All three brothers are NASCAR racing car drivers although Geoff is considered to be the most talented driver of the three.  Born on the 18^th April 1949 he was raised in Chemung, New York where the family farmed and also built and owned the Chemung Speedrome giving Geoff the opportunity to learn his racing skills from the early age of five when his father put together a car for him to practice on the track in the micro-midget division.  By the time he reached his teens Geoff was desperate  to race and, knowing that his parents were against him racing before he graduated from high school, he came up with the crazy idea of entering an all female race, aptly named the Powder Puff Derby, by dressing in girls clothing and wearing a wig but knowing that he could not win because his father, unfortunately for Geoff, was the person who gave out the trophies and took the photographs of the winner so although he was leading he had to duck out towards the end of the race.  His parents didn’t know about this prank until a family gathering for his parent’s fiftieth wedding anniversary when the truth finally came out!  Geoff further honed his racing skills by driving go-karts between his farming chores of gathering eggs, shovelling manure and bailing hay and from this true dedication to racing he progressed very successfully when he became a professional race car driver.

Before joining the NASCAR’s premier division Geoff was well known as a very successful Modified car driver, racing in the North East against drivers such as Jerry Cook and Jimmy Spencer.  He won many of the big Modified races including the Lancaster 200 in 1978 and 1981, the Race of Champions in 1972 at Trenton and again at Pocono in 1978 and the Trenton Dogleg 200 in 1979 to name but a few as well as championships at Shangri-La Speedway, Stafford Speedway, Spencer/Williams Speedway and Utica-Rome Speedway.  In 1978 he was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as having won a record fifty five races in a single season, starting in eighty four feature events.  Geoff is best known for his NASCAR Winston Cup career. Some of the highlights of his career include in 1982 he was awarded the Rookie of the Year, he won the most prestigious  Daytona 500 in 1986, was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and named as one of NASCAR’s Modified All-Time Top 10 drivers in 2003.  He accrued nearly $16 million dollars during his Winston Cup/Nextel Cup career and was instigator of many new ideas to the Winston Cup such as the use of power steering and full faced helmets.  His innovative ideas were not only in NASCAR racing, he used his racecar experience and engineering background to redesign and create, together with auto racing designer, Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics, the now made-in-America bobsled, the Bo-Dyn sled, used in the United States Bobsled competitions.  Since 2002, the Bo-Dyn effort has produced one Olympic gold medal, two silvers and a bronze. 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 medals among them – in the run-up to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.  Geoff also believes that it is good to give back to the community and serves as a volunteer fireman and is a board member of the MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION.

References

http://www.geoffbodinefanclub.com/geoffbodine.html

http://www.nascar.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoff_Bodine

http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/leisure-activities/info-08-2010/geoff_bodine_in_thefastlane.html

http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Bodine_Geoff.html