Lake Placid -- The U.S. Bobsled National Championships will be held in conjunction with the 4th Annual Whelen Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge in Lake Placid Jan. 3-4.

The U.S. National Bobsled Championships will be held as a four-heat competition over two days of racing. Athletes named U.S. National Champion will qualify as the third and final U.S. sled in the 2009 World Championships, which will be held in Lake Placid from Feb. 20 to March 1.

In the 4th Annual Whelen Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, NASCAR and NHRA drivers will pilot modified bobsleds down the course in two races as a fundraiser for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project. The first race will consist of two heats, with the winner determined by the sled with the lowest combined time. NASCAR and NHRA drivers will go head-to-head in the second competition, with the winner of each division squaring off in the final heat.

Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine created the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, Inc., in 1992 to build American-made sleds for U.S. athletes. U.S. pilot Steven Holcomb will test new sled designs created by designer Bob Cuneo from Chassis Dynamics over the next several weeks leading up to the World Championships.

The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, Jan. 3

9:00-11:30 am -- Bodine Bobsled Challenge Practice Session

1:00 pm -- Women's Bobsled Race Heat 1

1:15 pm -- Bodine Bobsled Practice

1:45 pm -- Women's Bobsled Race Heat 2

2:00 pm -- Bodine Bobsled Practice

2:30 pm -- Men's 2-man Bobsled Race Heat 1

3:00 pm -- Bodine Bobsled Practice

3:30 pm -- Men's 2-man Bobsled Race Heat 2

4:00 pm -- Bodine Bobsled Practice