BOBSLEDS PILOTED BY NASCAR DRIVERS WEAR PPG VIBRANCE COLLECTION COLORS FOR OLYMPIC FUNDRAISER

For Immediate Release:
December 12, 2006

Contact:
Calvinia Fields
PPG Industries
(440) 572-2800
cfields@ppg.com

Sandy Caligiore
New York Olympic Regional Development Authority
(518) 523-1655
sandyc@orda.org

STRONGSVILLE, Ohio – December 12 , 2006 – On January 6 and 7 in Lake Placid, New York, NASCAR drivers will take to the track. Only this track will be coated with ice. They will be piloting bobsleds at the 2nd Annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering, to raise funds for research and development of bobsleds for the U.S. men’s and women’s bobsled teams. The modified bobsleds that will be used in the challenge are painted with PPG VibranceCollection® colors.

Famed NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine stands next to one of the Bo-Dyn bobsleds his company manufactures for the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic Bobsled Teams. The colorful designs on the sleds were created using PPG finishes donated to the Bodine Bobsled Project, Inc., a non-profit organization that raises funds for the manufacturing of Olympic bobsleds.

It all began in 1992, as NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine was watching the bobsled competition during the Winter Olympics, and was disappointed by the poor performance of the U.S. team. When he learned that the sleds were made in Europe, he wondered why they weren’t made in the United States. He came up with the idea that racecar engineering could be successfully applied to bobsled fabrication. Bodine, who has been honored as one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers, teamed up with long-time friend Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics, Inc. of Oxford, Connecticut, a racecar design and development firm. Together, they set out to design and build bobsleds “Made in America.”

Soon after, Bodine and Cuneo formed the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc., a non-profit organization that raises funds for the design and manufacturing of the Bo-Dyn bobsleds. Today, the USA is a frequent medal winner on the World Cup circuit and Bo-Dyn sleds are known as some of the best in the world. The paint, which aids in the aerodynamics of the sleds, has been PPG since the beginning.

“Given that bobsled races are timed to the hundredth of a second, something such as aerodynamic paintwork can play a role in the outcome of a competition,” said Phil Kurze, president of Bo-Dyn Bobsleds. “Like auto racing, the crews can leave nothing to chance. And with the professionalism and craftsmanship of PPG, our sleds will not only look good, but the paintwork will also help them go fast.”

PPG Automotive Refinish donated the paint, materials, and talent to create the spectacular designs on these Bo-Dyn Olympic-style bobsleds for a fund-raiser for the manufacturing of Olympic bobsleds. The designs were created by PPG customer Justin Barnes of J.B. Custom Painting, Inc. of Newburgh, New York, and the paint was applied by PPG Territory Manager Dennis Beardsley and a group of vo-tech students at the Hudson Valley Community College Automotive Technical Center.

The sleds were sprayed with such Vibrance colors as Midnight Sapphire, Silver Star, Crystal Black, and Cabernet, formulated in Deltron 2000 DBC. Most of the colors are tri-coats, topped off with Vibrance clear and then re-cleared with PPG’s CeramiClear D8126 Mar and Scratch Resistant clear, an extremely hard clear highly resistant to scratches and abrasions to assure the stunning appearance of the sleds, which are subjected to the tough weather and conditions of a bobsled track.

PPG Territory Manager Dennis Beardsley volunteered to supervise the painting of the modified sleds used for the Challenge, with the help of noted motorcycle graphic artist and PPG customer Justin Barnes of JB Custom Painting, Inc. of Newburgh, New York. Barnes designed the color schemes and applied the flames and pinstriping, while Beardsley and a group of students from Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, worked to paint, sand, and clear the sleds at the school’s Automotive Technical Center.

Don’t miss the the 2 nd Annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering, from 2-4 P.M. ET January 6 & 7 on the SPEED CHANNEL.

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