News

Napier survives wild ride to win U.S. Bobsled Championship
Date Posted: 1/7/2009

By Tim Hipps
FMWRC Public Affairs

Cory Butner (left) and U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program bobsled driver Pfc. John Napier (right) hoist their trophy after winning the Two-man U.S. National Bobsled Championship Jan. 4 at the Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, N.Y. With the victory, the duo earned a spot in the 2009 World Bobsled Championships, scheduled for Feb. 20-March 1 in Lake Placid. Photo courtesy of U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Despite rolling his truck on a snowy road while driving to the 2009 U.S. National Bobsled Championships, Pfc. John Napier won the two-man crown Jan. 3-4 at the Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Napier was driving his 1999 Dodge Ram along an unplowed, snowy, back road from Saranac Lake when he lost control, drove into a snow bank, and rolled the truck onto its top and side for an upside-down slide on the icy road.

“My tire just went off the pavement, and it was on a corner, so I couldn’t correct – it was a bad spot – and it just sucked my truck right off the road into a bank, and the bank flipped the car,” Napier said. “The snow was only a couple feet deep, but it was just enough to flip me over.

“It slid about 30 feet on the icy road. While I was upside down, I thought, ‘This is just like being in a bobsled.’ I eventually had to crawl out the passenger window.”

Napier, a bobsledder in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, was fortunate to walk away with bruised ribs and his bobsled gear. He called a friend, who gave him a ride to the track while his truck was being towed away.

The accident occurred around 11 a.m., and Napier planned to arrive at the track around 11:30. He got there at 12:30 p.m., just in time to make his warm-up runs before completing two heats that left Napier and teammate Cory Butner in first place by one-tenth of a second with a combined time of 1 minute, 53.5 seconds after the first day of competition.

“I was just a little beat up with some bruised ribs,” said Napier, who added that the setback did not affect his bobsled driving ability.

The next day, the duo held on to win the event by .30 of a second over former WCAP driver Sgt. Mike Kohn, now a member of the National Guard Outstanding Athlete Program, who finished runner-up in the two-man championships.

With the victory, Napier earned a berth in the 2009 World Championships, scheduled for Feb. 20 through March 1 in Lake Placid.

U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program bobsledder Pfc. John Napier (right) and Cory Butner (left) get set to push off during one of four heats in the Two-man U.S. National Bobsled Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. The duo earned a spot in the 2009 World Championships, scheduled for Feb. 20-March 1 in Lake Placid, with a four-heat cumulative winning time of 3 minutes, 45.87 seconds. Photo courtesy of U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation

Napier, 22, the son of former bobsled national contender Bill Napier, has been bobsledding since he was 8 years old. He joined WCAP last May and credits the Army and WCAP/Team USA Bobsled coach Sgt. William Tavares for helping to further his Olympic dream.

“When I joined the Army, I knew a couple of our best bobsledders had been in the World Class Athlete Program and I had seen what it did for them,” Napier recalled of his developmental years competing against the likes of former WCAP athletes Mike Kohn and Steven Holcomb. “I saw how difficult my future was going to be in this sport. Right now, I wouldn’t be able to slide without WCAP – there’s no way because all of the bills we have to pay are the driver’s responsibility.

“Equipment is on the driver. The runners we buy are about $5,000 a pair and we have to have multiple pairs because different runners go faster at different tracks. I saw how great the program was for those guys and how it made it feasible for them to slide. Without it, there’s no other income for a driver, and it’s a full-time job.

“We’re trying to be the best in the world so we need to dedicate our time to training, to bobsledding. There’s just no other program out there that makes it possible.”

Napier will compete in the Four-man Bobsled National Championships Jan. 10-11 on his hometown track in Lake Placid. He needs to finish first or runner-up to Holcomb’s sled to earn another berth on Team USA for the upcoming World Championships.

“In the past, I’ve been a little bit stronger in the four-man sled because I’m able to make up a little more distance on the push,” said Napier, a 6-foot, 200-pounder. “My deficit is that I’m just a little bit smaller of a driver, size-wise and weight-wise, so I’m not able to contribute as much on the push. That’s why in four-man I’m a little bit better.”

Contact Person: Tim.Hipps1@us.army.mil