NHRA beats NASCAR at bobsledding

Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas won the NHRA vs. NASCAR portion of the fourth annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge Sunday with the best time of the weekend down Mount Van Hoevenberg -- a stunning 47.78-second run in one of Team USA's competition Bo-Dyn bobsleds. Final-round foe Todd Bodine, who dominated the timed portion of the event earlier in the day, flipped over near the end of his final run to give Lucas the win.

"We finally got the win light for the NHRA," Lucas said. "It took us straight-liners a few years but we got it done and I feel great. The Team USA guys decided to let us drive the real bobsleds in the final round and they are completely different than the ones we've been driving. It was like going from a Yugo to a Ferrari; a totally different feeling of speed.

"I'm really lucky I didn't crash down there at the bottom because I basically did the same thing Todd did. The only difference was my sled came down on the runners and his went over."

Earlier in the day, Lucas was the best of the NHRA drivers in the first race, which pitted all the drivers from both sides against the clock. He finished just off the podium in fourth place.

Lucas' teammate J.R. Todd came to life late, reaching the third round on the drag racing side of the ladder before bowing to teammate Lucas by .03 seconds, 49.56 to 49.59 seconds. Earlier, Todd failed to qualify for the individual timed event.

Four-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. was solid the entire weekend in his new JEGS.com bobsled. He was the quickest during the Day 1 practice sessions and qualified fourth overall Saturday, before finishing fifth in the timed race and in the quarterfinal round of the NHRA vs. NASCAR tilt.

After struggling for much of the event, Bob Vandergriff ended his trip to Mount Van Hoevenberg with a nasty spill in the first round of the NHRA vs. NASCAR race. The Top Fuel veteran turned his Mac Tools/Lincoln Welders bobsled over coming out of Turn 10 and rode upside for the final 10 turns before safety workers wrangled his sled. He was sore but uninjured in the incident.

"We were letting it all hang out and just went over the edge," Vandergriff said. "We've been slow all weekend and I just decided to go for it that run because I felt like we had nothing to lose. I'm glad I have a football player's neck because I landed on my head when we went over and it was a pretty good hit. I didn't manage to get small enough in there until about the fourth or fifth hit. I'm sure I'll be feeling this later." [1/5/2009]