Geoff Bodine: Surviving The Worst Crash In NASCAR History

Summary

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Herm & Schrader – “Geoff Bodine: Surviving The Worst Crash In NASCAR History”

Date: July 23, 2026
Hosts: Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader (featuring guest Geoff Bodine)
Production: SiriusXM, Dirty Mo Media

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Episode Overview

In this candid, humorous, and deeply insightful episode, Kenny Wallace hosts legendary NASCAR champion Geoff Bodine for a wide-ranging conversation. They cover Geoff’s unconventional entry into racing, his achievements and challenges in NASCAR, innovative contributions to motorsports (including safety advancements), infamous rivalries, and the extraordinary story of how Bodine helped put American bobsledding on top of the world. The episode features funny stories, honest reflections, and plenty of technical talk—capturing both the heart and the grit of racing culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Unconventional Beginnings: The Powder Puff Derby

[03:42–10:44]

• Jeff’s Start in Racing:
  • Geoff shares how, barred from entering regular races before age 18, he snuck into a Powder Puff Derby (a women-only race) disguised with a wig, driving his cousin’s boyfriend’s car.
  • Quote:

    “Started last... just another car, got the lead. Man, it was fun. I wasn’t scared or intimidated.” — Geoff Bodine [07:23]

  • Ultimately, he purposely finished early to avoid his dad catching him as the ‘winner’ and only confessed decades later at his parents’ 50th anniversary.
  • Takeaway: Bodine’s need to race was so strong, he went undercover—literally—to get behind the wheel.

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2. Reflecting on a Legendary Career

[15:25–18:51]

• Record-Breaking Success:
  • 55 Modified wins in one year (Guinness World Record)
  • 1986 Daytona 500 Champion
  • 18 NASCAR Cup wins, 1987 IROC Champion, 1994 Winston Select winner, 1992 Busch Clash winner, and named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
  • Bodine stays humble:

    “That’s easy. I’m just fortunate. I was given talent to build cars, design cars. I always built a better car than the other guys.” — Geoff Bodine [18:51]

  • Racing was always a living, not a hobby, for Bodine; he financed his own way through college through racing.

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3. Engineering Ingenuity and Family Mentors

[22:30–25:18]

• Upbringing and Influence:
  • Learned mechanics and driving from three uncles: Maynard (engine builder), Earl (driver), and Jimmy (mechanic/fabricator).
  • Attended college for mechanical engineering but left when he outpaced what his professors could teach him.
  • Bodine highlights his faith as a foundation, crediting “the Lord” for putting the right people and opportunities in his path.
  • Quote:

    “If he can’t answer my question, I guess I don’t need to be here anymore.” — Geoff Bodine on leaving college [23:43]

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4. Northern “Yankee” Making History in Southern NASCAR

[25:52–32:53]

• Transition to Cup and Hendrick Motorsports:
  • Moved from being booed in the Northeast to embraced (then booed again) in the South.
  • Recalls being hired by legendary crew chief Harry Hyde for a startup team that would become Hendrick Motorsports.
  • Rick Hendrick credits Bodine’s 1984 Martinsville win with saving and launching Hendrick Motorsports.

  • “If you hadn’t won that race, we were done... You’re the one that created and helped make Hendrick Motorsports what it is today.” — Rick Hendrick (as quoted by Kenny Wallace) [32:02]

  • Bodine tells how waiting in the dealership lobby sealed the deal for his ride:

    “If I hadn’t waited in the lobby, that might not have happened. I call that a God thing.” [30:59]

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5. Classic NASCAR Rivalries & Days of Thunder

[39:31–46:24]

• Battles with Dale Earnhardt, Sr.:
  • Relation turned from friendly to fierce rivalry as Bodine became more successful.
  • NASCAR’s “penalty box” was effectively created because of their on-track incidents.
  • Both were summoned to Daytona for a legendary meeting with Bill France, Jr., after tit-for-tat wrecks.

  • “He ran into me. It could have been a mistake. But we know you hit him on purpose.” — NASCAR official to Bodine [41:35] “For somebody supposed to be so damn good, you make a lot of mistakes, Dale.” — Geoff Bodine to Earnhardt during the meeting [44:04]

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6. The Bodine Bobsled Project: Making America Gold

[47:25–55:15]

• Genesis of the Bobsled Effort:
  • Outraged by seeing US Olympians using European sleds, Bodine investigated—and realized ‘if I’m gonna complain, I gotta fix it.’
  • Developed and funded American-made bobsleds bringing NASCAR technology to the Olympic sleds.
  • Resulted in the first US bobsled medals in 46 years (Salt Lake City 2002), gold for the women.
  • 2010 Vancouver – Team Holcomb wins four-man gold, a first in 62 years, in a Bodine sled.
  • No official thanks from the government:

    “Zero. The board tried to get rid of me... they thought I’d just leave, but I didn’t. I’m a hard-headed Yankee.” [55:12]

  • The project also forced a change in sled-building globally.

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7. Innovations in Racing Safety & Technology

[51:55–54:20]

• Major Safety Contributions:
  • Introduced full-face helmets, power steering, and modern seat design to NASCAR.
  • Brought in rear anti-roll bars and other technical advancements now standard throughout racing.
  • Quote:

    “Things I’m most proud of... aren’t the wins. It’s the safety things... the full face helmet, power steering, the modern day seat.” — Geoff Bodine [51:55]

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8. Life After Racing & Staying Active

[57:12–59:49]

• Retirement Activities:
  • Living in Malabar, Florida, building and maintaining cars for road racing outfits.
  • Still active in the garage daily, mentoring and building spec Corvettes for amateur racers.
  • Health struggles noted—AFIB and back pain—but attitude is positive and committed to staying involved.

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9. Legacy, Reflection, and Humility

[60:06–63:41]

• Looking Back:
  • Grateful for the journey, still stunned by the path from a chicken farm in New York to the Daytona 500 and Olympic gold.
  • Promotion for his autobiography—available through Team Bodine’s website and at Daytona signings.
  • Still credits faith, family, and ‘being blessed’ more than talent.

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Notable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp

• “My parents didn’t know I had done that until their 50th wedding anniversary…my mother pointed her finger and said ‘Jeffrey, you shouldn’t have done it.’” — Geoff Bodine on sneaking into the Powder Puff Derby [08:32]
• “Winning four-man in the Olympics is like winning Daytona—the biggest race going.” — Geoff Bodine, on his dual world-class titles [21:39]
• “The more resistance we got from them, the more determined we were to make this project work.” — Geoff Bodine on building American bobsleds despite obstacles [55:15]
• “If you sit down, you’re going to die... You just keep on digging.” — Geoff Bodine on staying active and engaged [59:09]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:00] — Geoff’s introduction, thoughts on the ‘G-E-O-F-F’ spelling
• [05:21] — The new autobiography and Daytona Speedweeks signing
• [07:04] — Sneaking into the Powder Puff Derby
• [15:25] — Stat sheet and reflections on legacy
• [22:30] — Olympic medals, Daytona ring, and bobsled origins
• [25:52] — Being a “Yankee” in NASCAR and joining Hendrick
• [32:02] — Martinsville win that saved Hendrick Motorsports
• [39:31] — Working (and locking horns) with Harry Hyde
• [41:14] — Rivalry with Dale Earnhardt Sr., the “penalty box”
• [47:25] — Creating the Bodine Bobsled project
• [51:55] — Major NASCAR safety innovations
• [57:12] — Retirement, life in Florida, mentoring new drivers
• [60:06] — Reflections, gratitude, and book info

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Episode Tone & Style

Richly anecdotal, irreverent, proud, and peppered with technical and historical detail. Much of the conversation is lighthearted with mutual teasing, heartfelt respect, and the direct, tell-it-like-it-is flavor that defines Herm & Schrader.

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For More:

• Autographed books & bobsled story: Team Bodine Website
• Listen to more: Herm & Schrader, available on [iTunes, Spotify, Dirty Mo Media]

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Transcript

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[Kenny Wallace]

Hello everyone and welcome back to Kenny Conversation, brought to you by jegs, the leader in high performance aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to JEGS.com for everything and anything you need to fix your cars up. Today is really exciting for me and here's why. Because in 1984 I was a NASCAR Winston cup crew chief. And all along I was watching this man, a hero, a NASCAR great. I was watching him win races as I was a crew chief, the great Jeff Bodine Jeff. How are you doing?

[Jeff Bodine]

Well, I don't use that word great. I'm just, I'm just a guy, you know, not racing anymore. So I'm just a fan, I guess you could say. But you know, Jackson's a great company and Jake actually drove our bobslens up in Lake Placid in some of our races. So yeah, he's very friend. And they sponsored us a little bit too. Great company, great products. Go to Jake's. You need something for your car?

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah. The Kauffman family, they're wonderful people and they're definitely winners. Well, let's have a little fun first. Okay. Before we dive into your incredible life, your incredible career. You know the Herminator, which is me. I'm a little light hearted at times. So your name. Well, you know, we have a good time. That, that, that name. Jeff. I like that spelling G E O F F. Tell me about that. How did mom and dad pick that spelling out instead of the famous J E F F?

[Jeff Bodine]

I guess they knew I was going to be different so they spelled it differently. Yes, it's Jeffrey Chaucer, the old writer. And that was funny. Becoming popular now. But yeah, through the years that I came I've been called Gee, Off, Godfrey. You name it. I think Alpha. Some other names I can't say. But yeah, it was, it was a little difficult growing up because people didn't know how to say it, didn't know what it meant. But it's okay now. That's. But you know, I changed my name to Jeffrey in racing.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

Well, the reason why person to the book. I think Jeff Gordon came along, Jeff Green, Jeff Burton and I'd be walking down pit road to get my car. I hear Jeff, I turn around, they didn't want me. They wanted one of those other GIFs. I said I can fix it, Jeffrey. It was a little PR deal but it worked. If they didn't say Jeffrey, I didn't turn around.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, I totally get it. Well, as we get going here, this is a really big day for you, a really big week for you. You are a Daytona 500 champion and we are going to get to that. But this is why it's a big day for you. You got a really big book coming out, all of it Jeff put on. And I know that I just got done talking to the president of the Daytona Speedway. He came out to watch me race and he told me that they are going to have a really nice area set up for you during the Daytona 500 speed weeks to sign this book. Tell me a little bit about your book and then we'll get into some of the parts of the book.

[Jeff Bodine]

Yeah, actually we were at East Smyrna the other night when they had the hon 52 in the lab race and a lot of people from up north are down. It's really great talking to all them and they bought a lot of books and of course I autographed them for them. But we are going to be in Daytona Saturday and Sunday and it's out in the front of the track where they have souvenirs and all that.

[Kenny Wallace]

The midway.

[Jeff Bodine]

That's the word I was looking for. Everyone come on by. A lot of time when you're getting into the track and leaving, but we'll be there having fun, signing some books.

[Kenny Wallace]

So I'm going to read something that is my favorite part and I have people all over social media. This is the number one question. Now, look, you've done it all. We get that. And I'm going to read your stats out in a little bit. You've done it all and I'm going to remind people what you've done. But let me read this part in the book and then I want you to respond. You said the that you wanted to race in the Powder Puff Derby. So we know that's about ladies only. Ladies run in the Powder Puff Derby. A friend of mine, Mike Castelling, who happened to be my cousin Pam's boyfriend, had a late model car. I asked him if I could drive his car in the Powder Puffs. He looked at me, are you crazy? And you said, I just want to race. I told him, but I can't until I'm 18 and graduate, so I'm not going to keep on going. But I guess you entered the Powder Pluff race. Tell me about this moment in this incredible book that set you off on your racing path.

[Jeff Bodine]

Yeah, well, that's all in there. But actually I saw him like, you should remember the other day, you're in a book. He said, wow, that's awesome. But no, my parents wouldn't let me race and it was a dirt track until I was 18 and graduated. But man, I knew I could race. A friend came to test one day. I used to open the track up if somebody wanted to test. And he let me drive his car and I went around and around. It had a small gas tank and they kept waving me to come in, but finally ran out of gas and I had to come in. But I mean, I loved it and I knew I could drive. I had an uncle it was a great driver and I just watched him all the time. So, yeah, I came up with this idea. My dad would promote a powder puck derby once a month through the season. And I said, man, I wanna. I wanna show people. Well, I want to prove to myself I can drive. Because I didn't tell my parents that I was gonna do it, obviously. And I'm out there, started last. They were making a lap and we just drove on a track behind everybody. I'm sure they wondered who was driving the 588, but it didn't matter. Just another car got the lead. And, man, it was fun. I just. It was natural that I to do it. I wasn't afraid. I wasn't scared or intimidated. But now I was coming to the end of the race, and my dad always gave the winner a hug, a kiss and a trophy. I said, hell, I just. I can't win this race. What am I going to do? And I said, well, I could either win it and get in a lot of trouble with my parents or pull off and just not even tell anybody I did. So that's what I did. Turn the car off, coasted off like the engine broke. My parents didn't know I had done that until their 50th wedding anniversary. My brother Brett got up in front of him and said, hey, Ma, I got something to tell you. Told the story. My mother pointed her finger and chicken Jeffrey, you shouldn't have done it. I said, wow, that was a long time ago. You shouldn't have done it. But I. Now I look back, I wish I'd finished the race in more and seen the look on my father's face when he went to kiss me. That would. I. I wore. You know, back then, we had small helmets. So I borrowed a wig from my cousin Pam. So the hair was hanging down and small helmet. It would have been cool to win. But back then, I was pretty scared of doing that face of my parents after that. And.

[Kenny Wallace]

And that is more of the story. You actually had a wig on. And John Bisky, who is from the Northeast, he works here at the Worldwide Technology Raceway for the NASCAR cup races. And John said he even put it on social media. And man, what a story. You know, I tell kids nowadays, I said, we do what it takes, you know, to fulfill your dream. And that's, hey, you dressed, you got in the powder club racing and you fulfilled your dream.

[Jeff Bodine]

Well, I proved I could drive, you know.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

My dad had a small track inside for kids. When I started one at five, he built me a Little micro midget they call it. And so before the main races we'd go out to race and you know, I won a few of those races. You know, that was boring to me. A year old when they started racing, I was at their tracks and said, just a little baby and it's in my blood. You know, the Lord gave me the right parents, right opportunities and da da, da. It's all in a book. And so I thank him for everything because I'm just a farm kid from Chumong, New York.

[Kenny Wallace]

So allow me to brag on you for a while. This is where my big brother Rusty Wallace, his most famous quote in the last 10 years, he said, it's sad to say but you have to remind people because people remember what they want to Jeff. So I'm going to read you all this and then I want you to respond and we're going to do this nice and slow.

[Jeff Bodine]

You know, we're going to belong for a while.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, I know all that. We can talk about that.

[Jeff Bodine]

But you know, when we, we're derelicted for the 75th greatest drivers thing and yes, that are still alive over there. And Rusty, I, it was so much fun talking to everybody because we're not in competition anymore. We're not beating each other up, we're not mad at each other. We're talking about kids, about jobs, about what are you doing today? So nice to be able to do that. But when we were racing we weren't real buddies.

[Kenny Wallace]

So we'll go ahead right now and we'll call the audible. We're going to call an audible and I'm going to talk. Let's talk about that right now. So in 1984 I was not even a race car driver and I came down and I ended up being, I took over the great Jake Elders crew chief job when Joe Rutman was driving the Levi Garrett car. Okay, so I'm a crew chief in 1984 for Joe Rutman and when my job was done there, your crew chief, your owner Harry Hyde called me up and he says, I'd like you to come over and work on our team in 1985. So I get over there and my interview in 1985 to work on your team doesn't go good because you and my big brother Rusty Wallace got into a pissing match at Darlington and it was a big wreck. So because of you and Rusty wrecking each other, Harry Hyde would not hire me because Rusty's brother Kenny, I could not work for you. Now let's have a little fun. And let's stay light hearted. Don't get, don't get mad. What's your, what's your point of view? Why didn't you. Why did you and Rusty get into it? Rusty says it was Darlington. Let's have fun now. Don't get mad.

[Jeff Bodine]

I. I think I've hit more walls in my career than you have. Thank goodness for you. And I am older than you and I can't remember as much as you probably. So. Okay, what happened at Darlington? I really don't. You know, Rusty and I. The thing I remember about Rusty was at Richmond, the new track. Okay, okay, yeah, that's the one I remember after that he named me dunce for the conehead or no conehead. Okay, now we were that before Hoosier got into. We ran Hoosier tired because they were fast, especially on the short track. So in Richmond we qualified well. They were okay for two laps. I put them out for practice, went out about 10 lap, they were tore up. Blister and the rubber slide all over the place. So NASCAR said, all right, you guys can switch the good years, but you're going to have to start last. Rusty did the same thing I did. He qualified in Hoosiers. So here we are in the back and I don't know who else was there. And here we come from the start, down the front straight, race curve as we, you know. And I was inside of Rusty and he says, I came up on him and I say, rusty, you just turned on me. He ran over my hood. Yeah, right at the start. So he called me a conehead. Of course Earnhardt named him Rubberhead. Earnhardt was hard headed. We liked to name each other back in those days.

[Kenny Wallace]

There were great nicknames.

[Jeff Bodine]

To me that was when the shoot or whatever started right there. That race I'm not sure about, darling. I'll have to ask Rusty the next time I see him.

[Kenny Wallace]

I don't want to get too deep into our conversation because without saying all this, let's come back to that. So here we go. This is going to really make you happy. Okay, Jeff Bodine, 74 years old. Are you 75 yet?

[Jeff Bodine]

April 18th. Okay, so you're 70 presents. April 18th. Yeah, I love it.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, the great Jeff Bodine, 74 years Old. And by the way, I just got done doing a kenny conversation with 74 year old John Force and he's still winning. So stay walking, eat your grilled chicken because you look good. You look really good right now, Jeff. All right, here we go. You did it all in asphalt, modifieds you and Richie Evans, you're the kings. There's nobody better than you. You and Richie Evans. There's too many stats, Jeff, to name about the modifieds. But I will say this. You are in the Guinness Book of World Records right now because you won 55 wins in one year. And like I said, I know Richie Evans is the man, I get that. But you were incredible. And your time in the Northeast is what sent you down to nascar.

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[Kenny Wallace]

Who knew Gonna go with C. Walmart.

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[Jeff Bodine]

I love not leaving my couch.

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[Kenny Wallace]

All right, now let's, let's move on to nascar. I've done told everybody that I think you're the greatest. Right there with Richie Evans. 55 wins in one year, Guinness Book of World Records. And that's a tough series, all right. Once you get the NASCAR, it's unbelievable. You become the 1986 Daytona 500 champion. Our greatest race of all time. You win it, you got nine, you got 18. 18 NASCAR cup wins. You are the 1987 IROC champion. That is against the greatest. In 1987, you beat all the greats in the world. 1987 Iraq champion. 1994 Winston select winner. 1992 Busch Clash winner. And I could keep going. But let's end it like this. Named one of NASCAR's 50 greats. Now, there's been thousands and thousands and thousands of drivers. And you're in your name to one of the 50 greats. Now, when I tell you all that, tell me what goes through your mind.

[Jeff Bodine]

That's easy. I'm just fortunate. I'm a fortunate man to have all those opportunities to do those things. And, and I was given talent to build cars, design cars. I've done it all My life, I'm still doing it actually. And God gave me some talent to drive, obviously. But I, I give all the credit that I always build a better car than the other guys. And I was ahead of them in that respect. And I didn't run for championship back in the modified. Dave Ritchie and Jerry Cook did. So they all won all the championship. I had to go where the money was because I had a family, had to pay for the bills and the diapers and all that stuff. So we concentrated on just the big races and not championships. But just a fortunate guy, Kenny. I mean, it's just unbelievable that all this has happened to a kid that grew up on a chicken farm, dairy farm up in Shimon, New York. It really is.

[Kenny Wallace]

So that is in one of my questions. We're down here in Missouri and we have fenders on our cars. And the great Larry Phillips, Richie Evans, we thought of those guys back in the late 70s. It's like, how is Richie Evans, how is Larry Phillips racing for a living when you're not supposed to? So that this is in one of my questions to you. Were you racing for money, a living, or was it a hobby back then?

[Jeff Bodine]

Oh, no. Since I started racing at my father's track and that's how I made a living. I went unbelievable. I went to college, six years in a national car, right. I was able to race all through that and you know, I didn't, I tried to work, have another job. I worked at Stroman, we all did. I worked at Stroma's bread factory in Sierra Pennsylvania. That lasted about three weeks. He come in, they call me up about 2:33 in the morning, hey, come on in here. We gotta make, we're making bread. I don't eat bread today. The smell of bread at 3:30 in the morning just turned me right off.

[Kenny Wallace]

Right.

[Jeff Bodine]

So I tried. I said even though I always raced and was able to make a living, paid for college and first got married and kept moving up and racing and you know, they paid almost as much back in those days as I paid today to win a short track race race. It's sad because it costs a lot more to race today, but I was able to survive and make a living just racing. Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

So can I see your ring? Can you put your, your ring on your finger? What is that ring?

[Jeff Bodine]

This ring is the 12 medal ring from the Olympics. Oh my gosh. And our team Holcomb won the four man race in Vancouver in the Olympics. Winning a four man race is like winning Daytona, the biggest race going of course, this. This little ring is the Daytona 500 ring back in 1986. Man, I almost won it again in 2002. But today's Daytona rings are bigger. As big or bigger than this one? But. And I'm not bragging about this.

[Kenny Wallace]

No, you should brag, remind us.

[Jeff Bodine]

I'm the only guy in the whole world that has marvy. And I don't think they'll ever be matched, because who is going to build bobsleps that runs a Daytona pounder? I mean, that's. I'm not building them now, unfortunately, but that was a great run we had with those bobsleeps.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, let's. Let's not get out of line. We're going to go back to the Bodine bobsled. What an unbelievably passionate American story. So what I want to talk to you about is your engineering background. You know Ryan Newman, you know Purdue University. But in 1984, when I was a crew chief, what I remember about you was you were so smart and you were innovative, and that was just the Northeast. You know, Cheech came down, was building spindos. We had this. We had this influx of Northeastern smarts. You're way smarter than us Southern guys. We could just.

[Jeff Bodine]

We.

[Kenny Wallace]

We just used a welder and we could cheat. Well, I'm a Midwest boy, but tell me where your incredible engineering background, where did that come from?

[Jeff Bodine]

I had uncles, three of them. Maynard, Earl, Jimmy. Yeah, Maynard was a guy. He built engines, and he showed me how to build engines. I started out just cleaning parts. Sweeping floor. No, Mayor Bodhi.

[Kenny Wallace]

Okay, okay.

[Jeff Bodine]

And Earl was a great driver. Yeah. Just by watching him, I knew how to drive. And my Uncle Jimmy was. He did it all. He tried driving. That didn't work, but he was a mechanic and engine builder. So I had three people educate me through my younger days to how to build race cars and maintain them. And that's where it all started. I went to college for Macapa Engineering to learn more about how to build things and all that. And one day, the professor, I asked him a question, and he said, I don't know what an answer to that, Jeff. He was a German great professor. And so I said, he can't answer my question. I guess I don't need to be here anymore. So I stopped going to college. But then I was in the National Guard, went through basic training, all that. And I learned about trucks and equipment, how to maintain them and change the oil, but the electrical system. So that actually helped me a little bit in racing.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

But. Well, I Give all the credit to the Lord of Love because he. He put all that in me. He does that. He has a plan for everybody in life. Sometimes you miss the plan. A lot of people do. Unfortunately, you. You've made the plan your brother. Everyone seemed to go where they were. The plan was for their lives. And yeah, I did too. I was very fortunate that I had the education he led me to. Right people at the right time, did the right things. I take credit for all the mistakes I made in my career, but I give him all the credit for the good stuff.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, that's why we go to confession. None of us are perfect. And we all have a journey. We can clean our sins and move right on. So, buddy, you just keep on digging. I love you. You're a great man. You've done a lot in the past. So we all make. We all run into a wall every once in a while. But that's okay. It's what you do after. And. And you're kicking ass right now, so you just keep doing that. So I want to have a little fun with you. Okay. And this is light hearted, so, you know, the Civil War was not light hearted. It was.

[Jeff Bodine]

It was hardcore.

[Kenny Wallace]

But, you know, you were a Yankee and a Yankee meant you were from New York specifically. Shamong is the name we remember. I'm sure there's other little New York towns you were from, but Shimong is what you made famous. But what is interesting to me is you were a Yankee. It was the north versus the South. And then listen, in 1984, the Civil War was still going on quietly. And you come down to NASCAR and a Southerner hires you. The great Rick Andrew. That really had to confuse all the Southerners. Tell me about, you know, just being a Yankee and this unbelievable man, Rick Hendrick, who is now one of the greatest of all time, hires you. Tell me about this time going to Hendrick and being a Yankee.

[Jeff Bodine]

You know what really surprised me and my whole family about moving well in the Northeast. They didn't like me. They booed me. When I went, I get down the microphone, I said, I love you guys. Booing. That's boo power. Boo louder, Nick. Boo louder. I said, well, I'm going faster next week for the race fans. And. But when I came south, now I'm expecting the same thing. You know, I went into the Late Model series, which is Xfinity now.

[Walmart Delivery Announcer]

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[Jeff Bodine]

And you know what? Just the opposite. They love me because I came down here and beat some of their villain drivers. Yeah. Like Tommy Ellis. A lot of people love Sam I. But he won too much Jack Ingram, Sonny Hutchins. So we couldn't believe the friendship when we came here and they liked me. I said it was great. Nobody's bullied me much. Well, after I started winning, they started bull a little bit. Yeah. But then when Rick called me up, actually, he didn't call me up. Was every high called me up. You know, I. I raced for Dick Bear a couple races in Cup. I raced for Bob. Yeah. Biggie Team Race hill Farm scene 47 car that lasted.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

So I met Harry Hyde. The Wood Bullet brothers. I mean, Leonard Wood, all those people. So I knew a little bit about racing and exposed to it. But Henry had called me up and he said, hey.

[Kenny Wallace]

And he.

[Jeff Bodine]

They'd already talked to Richard Petty about driving at Tim Richmond. Now this is a great story. It's in the book, but here I come. He said, I gotta. I got. We're gonna form a race team in this car together down here in Charlotte. North Carolina is putting it together and he's a great guy and he'll produce more than he ever promises. So come on down. We want to talk. So went to City Chevrolet Monday office. We talked and actually Rick used to hang out with Ray Henrick and Jack Tan.

[Kenny Wallace]

Wow. Oh, yeah. The number one.

[Jeff Bodine]

He went around and he saw me race when we raced against Jack and Ray Hendricks. So he knew me more than I knew him. So anyway, we chatted and he said, you know, I can only really promise you about 15 races. You know, we'll have to see how it goes. That's kind of the money we got laid out the. That to sponsor this team. Yeah. So. Okay, I like that. Now, I had full ride with Cliff Stewart the full season.

[Kenny Wallace]

The Gatorade car. Right.

[Jeff Bodine]

Yeah. We ended up with Gatorade. But I want. When Harry Hyde was in that room, he's a guy I wanted to be with. It wasn't Rick. Now he knows this story. It wasn't Rick. I didn't know him. Harry was the guy I wanted to be with because he was a winning crew chief. And I said, he can show me how to win. So I. They said, okay, we'll. Rick said, larry and I talked about. We'll give you a call. Well, of course, back in those days, they didn't have these things. Right. The landline.

[Kenny Wallace]

Right.

[Jeff Bodine]

How many calls that you were supposed to get on your landline? Never happened. So I said, rick, you mind if I just wait out in the waiting room at the dealership? Yeah, he said, yeah, of course. But that impressed him so much that they called Tim up, said, tim, we got us a driver. You're too late. And five minutes later came out, got me, shook my hand, said, you're the driver. But if I hadn't waited in the lobby, that might not have happened. So I call that a God thing. Something like my brain that don't drive home without an answer. You might not ever get the right answer. Wow, that's a cool thing. But. But Rick had been watching me all these years and modified because he was a modified fan. Pretty amazing.

[Walmart Delivery Announcer]

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[Kenny Wallace]

Uh, gonna go with C. Walmart.

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[Jeff Bodine]

I love not leaving my couch.

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Walmart. Who knew?

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[Kenny Wallace]

So you are a major part of the Hendrick story. You know, like right now, we hear Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and they're great, they are incredibly good. But to this day, Rick Hendrick gives you all the credit for creating Hendrick motorsport because he says, Rick Hendrick says that if you did not win that race at Martinsville, the big cup race, the 500 lap cup race, he felt like they were done because they couldn't have. They couldn't keep going. And Rick Hendrick says because you won the 500 lap NASCAR cup race with Harry Hyde, that you, Jeff Bordein, the Yankee, you're the one that created and helped Hendrick Motorsport what it is today. How does that make you feel when Rick Henrik brags on you that much?

[Jeff Bodine]

Well, the first ever racing, we had some good runs, but we had some not so good runs. And, yeah, Rick came to us, and he was just. I think he had two car dealerships in just a small car dealer. And he came over here, and I said, you guys, I'm sorry, man. I spent way more money than I thought I was gonna have to spend. To get this steam going, and I'm gonna have to shut it down. My heart's. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And so Harry got with him and said, rick, the car was ready. The engine's in it, Randy, Garden engine. It's in there. You might have to buy a few tires. And he said, you know, Garhad from Kentucky, you know that motor aller. He wondered if you racing at Martinville, which I had modified in late models, and I've run there with Cliff Stewart, so my potential, I guess. And Rick said, well, all right, I'll give you one more chance. Now, Rick and his wife Linda were in Greensboro at a church conference. So they weren't even at the track, of course, like that. We didn't have these things. So after we won the race, Rick had to call his mother up, who was home. She's.

[Kenny Wallace]

Ricky.

[Jeff Bodine]

Ricky. They want to race. They want to race. Well, I live right just a little south of Greensboro. So Rick, they went to. Ran a stop at a convenience store, bought a bunch of toilet paper. They went to my house and toilet papered the house. His first win in nascar. My first win in nascar, I get my house toilet paper. You know, today when you. If you do that year round, you go to California, you go to New York City, get on all these TV shows, But that was the celebration. I took my. Some of my crew and my family to Clarence's Steakhouse, just up the road from.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yes, we all go there.

[Jeff Bodine]

Yeah, well, I see that's still there. But that was our victory celebration. And so a whole lot different in that. But it was amazing. Yeah, it was a dream come true. And they kept the doors open at Henrik Motorsports. And, you know, so the moral of that story is, is everything you do in life and everything you say eventually can affect your life and millions of other people, thousands of other people that won that race. Where would all those people that work for Hendrick motorsport be today?

[Kenny Wallace]

Right.

[Jeff Bodine]

We don't know. Where would Jeff Gordon, what was his career be like? What would Jimmy Johnson, all. All those guys, drivers, what would their careers been like? So everything you do and say affects. So be careful. I always try to think before I open my mouth.

[Kenny Wallace]

Nowadays we do. Well, I'm a lover, but I'm also verbally aggressive. I want to tell you something. I'm a lover. Listen, I want to tell you a story about that win at Martinsville. I was there, and you just said to me that, you know, tires were a big thing, Tire money and Harry Hyde. That day I was watching your pit stops now, remember, I'm 60 years old right now. Do you know, I mean, you were sitting in the car, Jeff, and. And they jacked the left sides up. Harry would take your. Your left rear tire off, okay. And immediately put it in cool water. And the next pit stop, he'd take that left rear and put it on your left front. I watched it, and he might have saved Rick some money that day, but I found that an engineering move because in those days, when your car, that red and white number five, when that car came up off the corner and all of us, you, you. There was a foot underneath the left front. You were carrying that left front. You were getting real good grits. So in the day, you'd come up off the corner, left front, just every once in a while, come up off the ground. So the left front wasn't getting any tire wear. But I wanted to tell you my view of your great win that day. I remember Harry swapping those left sides out for the left front. And he probably saved $600 in that race. Yeah, you do you think you and Harry, even though you all were. You and Harry Hyde were a little different. Did. Were you guys ever on the same page, engineering minded?

[Jeff Bodine]

Yeah. So, you know.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

The neat thing about that race, Harry picked the first pit. Coming in on the front side of the pit roll, you pick down in the middle. What happens, you get all bogged down, you get in traffic, you can't go. So he picked the first pit as you exit turn four. That was genius. That really was. I asked him, why are you pitching that pit? Because we qualified. What? I don't know, you know, third or fourth, we would be way down there. He said, boat on. I know what I'm doing. He does. Because we didn't get slowed down when we made a pit stop. Did we get along? Yeah, we got along until I mentioned something to him. You know, his setup, we're on a three by five index card. He had this five point pen, and this goes back right here. Racing the can k dodge and all

[Kenny Wallace]

those years, Bobby Isaac, they had torsion

[Jeff Bodine]

bars in the front of those cars. He had a conversion from that torsion bar to a coil spring. He said, that's what we ran here before. This is what it is in foil spring. This is what we need. Well, like I said, I joined the team because I wanted to race with him. I thought he would show me how to win, which he did. But some of those setups didn't work so good out of bigger tracks. And the reason why was Harry liked To put a lot of lead in the trunk in the car to make it wait properly. He put in the trunk behind the axle. Yeah, some tracks that just didn't work. I said, harry, you know, subtract. This isn't working. You know what that is? You put that lid behind the axle. That's like a pantaloon paneling. As weight on the bottom, it'll swing the back end out. When you go in the corner, it goes bow down. I don't know anything about no pedaling effect, but that's where the lead's going to go

[Kenny Wallace]

more.

[Jeff Bodine]

Yes. That's when we started having a little hit button thing. And that's why when Tim Richmond came into the Henrick Motorsports area of the. Tim and I ended up with Gary Nelson for a while, we went Dayton with Gary. So we switched around because Harry couldn't understand that pendulum effect.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, I get it. So let's move on a little bit. Let's move on to something that I think made you more famous in a way that the historians will remember. So this movie comes out with Tom Cruise, Days of Thunder. And this, this movie to this day is still very successful, like on Netflix or Hulu or anyone. Days of Thunder really put NASCAR on the map. And there's a part in the movie where NASCAR is really tired of Jeff Bodine and Dale Earnhardt senior fighting. You two were going at it. You, you had as much car control as the great Dale Senior did. He would try to wreck you. He couldn't wreck you. Sometimes he did wreck you. NASCAR had enough of it. They brought you down to Daytona. And of course, the movie Days of Thunder exaggerates it, but in real. Tell me about you and Dale Earnhardt Senior, the man in black, number three. Tell me about you two having to go to Daytona. What really happened? Well, give me some highlights. Just some highlights.

[Jeff Bodine]

When I got in the Cup. Dan.

[Tostitos Announcer]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

Buddies we go to over. We go out to dinner with Teresa and my wife and have some seafood and just talk. But as soon as you start, I started to win and, you know, the friendship went away. Yeah. Because he liked to win.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

But the penalty box, you remember that? Oh, yeah, penalty box. Well, what it was, Dale hit me. I hit him back. They put me, called me in and they started the pelvi box after me.

[Kenny Wallace]

Park you.

[Jeff Bodine]

I said what? He ran into me. It could have been a mistake. But we know you that hit him on purpose.

[Kenny Wallace]

You're red.

[Jeff Bodine]

You come in here. Time down. So it didn't take me long to figure out that wasn't a good thing to hit him back after he hit me and Rick Henrik the same way. And it was at Charlotte for late mod race. We're leading Robert G's car. Robert G. Was the grandfather of Kelly, Dale and Tick.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

I'm leading the race. And we didn't pit. Most everyone else did. And so coming going. And I knew they were going to pass me because they had new tire. So gets behind me coming off the turn, two spins me out. I spun around down the back strip, lose tires out. We changed them dinner at the car. I went out there and we ran side by side. Everyone knew I was going to wreck him, but I didn't. I ran, never touched him. And that night got a phone call from Mr. Henry. He said, I'm tired wrecking my cars. If you can't do something about it, I'll get somebody in there will. What are you going to do, Kenny? You're going to do something about it, right?

[Kenny Wallace]

Where's your check come from? Right.

[Jeff Bodine]

We had a fast car for this at 600, and I'm starting right now. Perfect. Perfect. I already got him. He might have been fifth or sixth. We were at the front and he's loose. He kept waving me to pass him. I kept waving back.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah,

[Jeff Bodine]

he waved me to pass it. He was loose getting off the corner. Kept. I kept waving at him. And I didn't want to get anyone else involved in this, but, you know, I figured out how the penalty box works, so I had to hit him first. So come out, too. I hit him, got him sideways. And I pulled up next to him a little heading down the backstretch, and I figured he just hit me a little bit. Pay me back. Then he put me in a boss. Oh, well. I penalized him with five or six laps that day. And that night, got called from Mr. Henrick again. Meet us at the airport. And we all flew down there and we went in the office at NASCAR office and all the officials are lined up in this long table and Earnhardt. I sat across from each other. Rick and of course Richard Chillers were there and Mr. Head of the table. Back in those days, we didn't have cell phones, all the technology. So there's a pile of VCRs and all this stuff here. He came in and laid this VCR tape. Foundry month. I know we're not going to have to watch this. We're going to work this out as me. So he proceeded to go. Yeah. What happened to that Saturday race, Billy? I mean, that's. That's how we talk to Billy. You know, the board had pit. We pitted, retired. We had new tires. He didn't. So I caught him. And coming off two, I was going to go mud him. My left front hit the apron and just shot me up into him. You know, I met. I made a mistake. I made a mistake. I'm sitting there. It's going to be my turn here in a minute. And he said, well, dad, what happened Sunday? I know you can't go in the turn three underneath somebody. You're going to get loose. I knew. I knew it, but I made a mistake. I went in there thinking I was going to be all right. The car got loose and I'm running into it. He said, so I'm looking over there. I said, dale, for somebody so supposed to be so damn good, you make a lot of mistakes. Mr. France, Mr. France, I think we need to look at the video he showed the Saturday race. They'll just run in there. Boom. He kept replaying. Boom, boom. Dale looks like he just ran into the boy. Then he put Sunday in there and he said he kept showing her over and over again. He said, dale, looks like you didn't turn the steering wheel going into turn three. He said, I'm going to tell you boys how you're going to do it. And that's the rest of the story. I'm not going to tell the rest.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah, yeah. Stop right there.

[Jeff Bodine]

But that, that's the beginning of the friendship between Dale and France junior.

[Kenny Wallace]

He.

[Jeff Bodine]

He knew he had to be his friend because he's the bot. He told us he'd gone. He said, you're effing with the way I make my living and I'm going to tell you how you're going to race.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

So Dale became his friend and got away with a lot of stuff. And I'm just dumb Yankee. I just figured, well, I'll go out there and win, or what I get. I didn't become friends. So anyway, the rest of the story, all the details in the book, it's really funny and no one knows it but a few people.

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[Walmart Delivery Contestant Voice]

Contestant, you're out of food and your meds but are too tired to get up. Do you A, pout B, beg your roommate or C, get Walmart to deliver it all. Same day.

[Walmart Delivery Announcer]

Same day. Who knew?

[Kenny Wallace]

Gonna go with C. Walmart.

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That is correct.

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Walmart offers same day delivery for prescriptions, groceries and more.

[Jeff Bodine]

I love not leaving my couch.

[Walmart Delivery Announcer]

Walmart. Who knew?

[FanDuel / Legal Disclaimer Voice]

Subject to availability restrictions, medication exclusions and fees apply.

[Tostitos Announcer]

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[Kenny Wallace]

Jeff, can you believe when we have fun doing Kenny conversation? The time flies. Now, we're not done, but we're at 45 minutes. So we're going to go ahead and wrap it up with basically one of my favorite stories about you. Now listen, I admire you for what you've done. You're an incredible race car driver. But let's. Let's get to something that you made america Great again. 1992, you're watching the Olympics and you cannot believe how bad our bobsled team is. Now, I don't want to steal your thunder because I know the whole story, but. But I started the story for you in 1992. You're like, why are we so bad? Why don't we win at bobsledge? So the Olympics representing America. So what do you do?

[Jeff Bodine]

Well, the announcer, John Morgan, always was part of our project. And his great friend of ours, still, he made the statement, well, maybe why the Americans aren't doing well is they have to buy and use European equipment. Wow. I said, wait a minute. Americans representing the United States of America in the worldwide Olympics, they're not using American made equipment. And so I investigated that. Sure enough, they weren't. And a friend of mine flew us up to Lake Placid right after that. The track was still open and it was right after Rockingham. And they gave me a ride. Scared the life out of me. The old track dangerous passed. Then the kid said, hey, you want to drive? I said, I'll kill us.

[Kenny Wallace]

No,

[Jeff Bodine]

only one problem. The first time down, man, I did good. You know what happens when a race driver is good? Your head gets this big.

[Kenny Wallace]

You want to do more.

[Jeff Bodine]

I want to do this again. Then the second time down, I didn't do quite so good. I came out off the last corner too early. The front hit the wall and the inside wall and the back slammed the wall. And the owner of the sled, Bruce Roselli, was riding Brickman with me and knocked the wind out of it. ESPN was there with her cameras and recorder. Had to push play and record. And they take the cameras on her head, not going out and. But anyway, I bet the frame on his sled. Now, at that time of the day, I knew I couldn't be a coach, I couldn't be an athlete, no way. But then I learned, sure enough, these sleds were European and it was junk.

[Kenny Wallace]

Unbelievable.

[Jeff Bodine]

It was terrible. So I knew what I wanted to do by then, but I bet this kid spraying six inches to the left. I said, well, Bruce, I have. Guess I'll have to build you pops. Now. They thought I was going to go fly back down to North Carolina, nice and warm, race and just forget all about it. But you know, like you, Ken, when you say something, you're obligated to do it. Yeah.

[Kenny Wallace]

Be careful what you say.

[Jeff Bodine]

So you got to be careful. But I said it, and I said, now what do I do? Now I'm racing. My crew is racing. But I hired my friends in Connecticut to do the project for me. Now, I funded it and in the beginning, and they ended up building sleds that were the best in the world, the fastest in the world. We actually changed the way sleds are built around the world because we applied NASCAR racing technology. How to build it. The bodies come off so you can work on it. Their sleds, the body didn't come off. They had to cut little holes in it to work on it. So we made them safer and the whole thing. And so it was a great, a great run. And proud of all the French. Cheech was part of it, chief guard. He's a. Was he fabricator down south. But yeah, he used to work up there with chassis dynamics and a lot of friends and people were behind it. I supplied the money and the idea. Well, that's something because the name is Bodine chassis. Well, the bo is me, the hyphen Dyn is their company, Chassis Dynamics. We used to build race cars together. We call them Bodine chassis modifies. And they're still running out there winning races. So I'm very proud of that. But you know, Kenny, we didn't mention this. You brought it up a little bit and I'll be quick. You know, things I'm most proud about in racing isn't the wins, not at all. It's the safety things that are brought to the sport. The full face helmet I brought, that was you.

[Kenny Wallace]

Oh, my God. That's another story. Watkins Glen, N.Y. power steering.

[Jeff Bodine]

They weren't using power power steering is isn't just to make the car steer easier. You can set your front end better to handle better. Now, Eart didn't know that at the time. He said, I'll never have power steering. I said, yes, you will. I will not just do some. You know, everybody has power steering, the modern day seat, you know, guys are like bringing the joy. They're building them down. They're really great. I used to all use all these things, but I, I came down and built that seat that came around his shoulders first because I was. Got tired of breaking my ribs and suspension things. Rear anti roll bar. You know, they try to get that outlawed. They didn't get that outlawed. DW said about the steering. Your bill, Frank, Billy, he called France Billy too. You can tell they're a real good friend, Billy. If that power steering goes out, that boy is going to wreck everybody. You can't let people run it. But eventually he had it. And so all those things to me are more important than the race wings that they're at.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah. And for the races that are watching, you know, you're 110% right. Obviously I'm way younger than you. We would go to Winchester, Indiana and asa, you know, you'd have to run five positive in the right front and then you'd have to run one and a half negative in the left front. You let go of the wheel, car just turned to the left by itself. Yeah, well, like you said, once you started bringing positive back in the left front, you know, going back the car, the left front would get in the ground and work hard and I won

[Jeff Bodine]

races with Al Parson. I won Darlington and Frank Plessinger late mob. That's the race that got me the cup ride with. I'll be Cliff Stewart, but I be and that I, I started guy David Pearson. I followed. I said, I'm gonna, this guy's gonna show me how to win this race and run the track. He, he was the best there at Darlington. Yeah, but Earnhardt's were in it. Allison were in it. Harry Gant was in it and David Pearson. I beat them all. Then a day later, Cliff Stewart called me up. Hey, did you. He had a big cigar. Hey, you more than Darlington, you went anywhere. That's how I got my cup. Right. But it's so badass without power centering.

[Kenny Wallace]

Let's go back to this. We glossed over the Bowdoin bobsled too much. Let me, let me just say this. Let me give some stats. The Winter Olympics Salt Lake City, Utah three medals in 2002.

[Jeff Bodine]

The girls want to go.

[Kenny Wallace]

The girls won a gold medal. Thank you. Okay. 2010. The granddaddy of them all, baby. Vancouver, British Columbia Gold medal. Thank thank you, Jeff Bodine, for, you know, from one American to you. Thank you because you personally are responsible. But what I want to know, did the US government, you know, did the president, did anybody, the vice president, did anybody call you and thank you for putting America on top?

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Zero.

[Kenny Wallace]

That's horrible.

[Jeff Bodine]

Yeah, zero. You know, we didn't sell them anyway. We, we build and maintain them all free. And actually when I got involved, the board, the, you know, van would just the board of directors for the practice for their bobsledding. They tried to get rid of me because they used to go to Europe just to talk about bobsleading. They used to go here on trips. And here, here's this guy that's coming in. He doesn't want anything. He's just going to build sleds. He paid for it. They tried to get me out, but the heart. I'm a hard Indian Yankee. So the more resistance we got from them, the more determined we were to make this project work. But now I didn't do it for anything else than just to supply American made fast. Bob says to her kids, I didn't, you know, in the Bible, God wants you to be humble. I'm humble. I didn't do it for me. I didn't even go to the races. They made me go to Salt Lake City, my, my board and to Vancouver. I wasn't going to go because I didn't do it for that. But so yeah, I'm proud of it. And that made me a little disappointed that president called me up and say at least thanks, but didn't do it for any of that.

[Kenny Wallace]

And to this day, and I'm going to be a little tough right now, this is me saying this to this day. We buy so many items, you know, from other countries and here to hear from you. And it's, you know, it's all the record books. We were buying our bobsledge from other countries. Well, they're not going to let us win. So once again from, from me to you, Jeff. Thank you for, for doing what you did. And then look at you now.

[Jeff Bodine]

You're.

[Kenny Wallace]

You living down in Florida.

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Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

Laura and I live in Malabar, Florida. Little piece of heaven. It's between the real crowded southern part of Florida and the real crowded Daytona beach area and just the peace of heaven.

[Kenny Wallace]

So what, what are you up to now?

[Jeff Bodine]

Oh yeah, can't get away from racing. I help a friend. He owns Ace Hardware in Malibar Mel. Race it some rudder. I build a car, maintain it and set it up. We've been doing that With George for five or six years now. But then I met a gentleman here in Melbourne that he liked to race the road courses. He had a car, and I just started helping him with it every day. And Lori, my wife, said, you know, James should be paying you. You're there every day working at a truck. I mentioned that to James and said, yeah, my wife just told me I should be paying it too. So he did a little bit. But we're in that. There's a spec Corvette class of road racing right now. Very cool. We build corvettes for that. And, you know, most people don't want to have a race car. A lot of maintenance, a lot of work, you know, all that stuff. So they rent them from us to drive and the summer buying us. We built really fast cars. And now people are wanting to buy a car from us. So we're busy. There's days I work 10 hours a day. Yeah, 10 hours a day. But I love the business doing it.

[Kenny Wallace]

Yeah.

[Jeff Bodine]

That's what I've done all my life, is build cars.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, you know, I know you know, because you're smarter and wiser than me, but I've just gone through this. At 60, I was going to quit racing. And then Clint Eastwood said, don't let the old man in, because if we don't stay busy, we bind up and. And Jeff put on. You have a. You have a lot of talent to give to people.

[Jeff Bodine]

Well, you know. Yeah, if you sit down, you're going to die. You know, I got have a bad bout. They've been in my heart four times. They put a little watchman in there because I had afib.

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[Jeff Bodine]

Just was up in my coronary artery. They thought it might pluck. And so thank God that wasn't the case. So I'm all right here. My legs don't work quite right because of my back. I get injections in my back for the pain, which. Cortisones. Yeah, a lot of arthritis back in there. They take X rays and pictures of back. It looks like a. A birch that falling down. It's pretty.

[Kenny Wallace]

Looks like you used to run in nascar back in the day.

[Jeff Bodine]

Had a lot of concussions, so I don't drive anymore because the next one might be the last one. I love my wife. I love my family. I got grandkids, a great granddaughter. So a lot more to do in life. So I stay out of the seats, but I just love working on it.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, Jeff, let's end it like this. You're an Olympic gold medal bobsled designer Owner, you've won the Daytona 500. You still got Guinness Book of World Record, 55 wins in the northeast. You helped bring the full face helmet to nascar. You are a safety innovator. I want to thank you for coming on the Kenny Conversation with the Daytona 500 coming up, you know, this weekend, our great American racing and buddy, you did it. You want it. Do you get sentimental? Do you ever think when the 500, you're like, man, I kicked their butt back in the day?

[Jeff Bodine]

No, no, I, I. Because I know I'm just blessed. I'm a blessed guy. You know, the Lord has given me all this, these opportunities. Like I said, I just used to shovel chicken manure, milk cows, work in a race rack, pick the rocks, grab the tractors and water trucks, and dreamed about going to Daytona to win. That was a big enough dream. That was a big enough dream. Yeah. As you mentioned, fortunately enough to do quite a few really neat things in NASCAR and racing. But you know, the strangest thing that I never dreamed would happen in Michigan, not in a million years, to write a book people want. I never, never came to my. I'm a farm kid from Shalom, New York. That's wild enough that I wanted Daytona 500, but to write a book is crazy. And you know, my wife sold up inside. And you can get this book and the only way you get it autographed is through an autograph session. One, you know, but you can get that on Amazon or, or Barnes and Noble. But to get this book, just go on Team Bodine. Yeah, teambody site. You know, put you right to a link, click on it and you can. You'll see this book. You'll also see the, the bobsled book. We wrote that a few years ago. I didn't. Another fellow did. But we still have a few of them left. Tells the whole bobsled story. And you can get one or both. You can buy ten of these or one. It doesn't matter. It's all pretty neat deal. But Team Bowen square site, awesome. And you get an autograph.

[Kenny Wallace]

Well, listen up, everybody. Kenny Conversation, the Kenny Wallace show. Coffee with Kenny. We are in podcast form. You can find us on itunes. Spotify. Listen to the great Jeff Bodine on your way to work. And it's an hour long, so when you come back home, you can listen to the rest of it. Until next time, Jeff put on. Thank you so much.

[Jeff Bodine]

You gonna be in Daytona?

[Kenny Wallace]

Nope, I'm not gonna be there. I've been, I've been gone for 16 days. I just got done winning my gator down there last week at the Volusia. I miss my wife. I miss my grandbabies. I'm back in St. Louis, but I will watch the Daytona 500 on TV, of course.

[Jeff Bodine]

Well, you know, you. You praise on me all day, but you know, folks, Kenny is incredible. He's still racing, still winning at 60 years old. Loves the sport, loves the race fans, there's no question about that. So we want to thank you for having me on the show and this opportunity to tell a few stories.

[Kenny Wallace]

They're great, they're good.

[Jeff Bodine]

And we'll see you around somewhere.

[Kenny Wallace]

All right, everybody. Until next time, Kenny. Conversation just keeps on rolling. Goodbye, everyone.

[Jeff Bodine]

Check out Dirty Mo Media on Twitter,

[Kenny Wallace]

Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

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