Bodine grew up at Chemung Speedrome, a track built by his father and grandfather, Eli Bodine Jr. and Sr., just a year before his birth. He is the oldest of three racing brothers, the others being Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine. He began racing in the micro-midget division at Chemung at age five, and his passion for competition was evident early — at fifteen, he disguised himself as a woman to enter a Powder Puff Derby event.
Before reaching NASCAR's top division, Bodine built an extraordinary reputation on the Modified circuit of the Northeast, competing against drivers such as Richie Evans, Jerry Cook, Jimmy Spencer, and Ron Bouchard. He won Modified championships at Stafford Speedway, Shangri-La Speedway, Spencer Speedway, and Utica-Rome Speedway, establishing himself across the region's key venues.
His single greatest achievement in Modifieds came in 1978. Driving cars owned by Dick Armstrong, with Billy Taylor and Ralph "Hop" Harrington as crew chief, Bodine entered 84 feature events and won 55 of them — a record recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most wins in a single Modified season. Among his victories that year were the Race of Champions at Pocono, the Spring Sizzler at Stafford, the Budweiser 200 at Oswego, both major events at Martinsville, the Thompson 300, and a sweep of the entire six-race Yankee All-Star League series.
His Modified résumé also included wins at major events such as the Lancaster 200 (1978 and 1981), the Race of Champions (1972, at Trenton), the Stafford 200 (1978), the Trenton Dogleg 200 (1979), the Spring Sizzler (1980), the Oswego Classic (1981), the Cardinal Classic (1975, at Martinsville Speedway), and the Oxford 250 (1980 and 1981).
Bodine made his first Winston Cup start in 1979, and after a period of part-time competition earned Rookie of the Year honors in his first full season in 1982. His first Winston Cup pole came at the 1982 Firecracker 400, and his first victory followed at Martinsville in 1984 — also the first win for Hendrick Motorsports. He went on to record 18 career Winston Cup wins and 37 poles across 565 starts, earning nearly $16 million in prize money. His most celebrated victory was the 1986 Daytona 500. Other highlights included the 1987 International Race of Champions championship, the 1992 Busch Clash, and wins at Watkins Glen in 1996. He was honored among NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers during the series' 50th anniversary.
Bodine also introduced several technical innovations to NASCAR, including power steering and full-face helmets.
A serious accident at the inaugural Daytona 250 Truck Series race on February 18, 2000, nearly ended his life. On lap 57, a multi-truck incident sent his Ford F-150 vaulting over the outside retaining wall at nearly 190 mph, tearing the front of the vehicle apart and igniting the fuel cell. Bodine rolled nine times before coming to rest on his roof; thirteen other trucks were involved. He suffered fractures to his right wrist, right cheekbone, a vertebra, and his right ankle, along with a concussion, but recovered to return to competition.
Bodine co-founded Bo-Dyn Bobsled Company in 1992 with chassis builder Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics, applying motorsport engineering principles to US Olympic bobsled development. The project bore fruit at the 2002 Winter Olympics, where the US team won three medals aboard Bo-Dyn sleds, and at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where Steven Holcomb piloted a Bo-Dyn sled nicknamed "Night Train" to gold.
Bodine's 1978 Modified season remains one of the most statistically dominant performances in American short-track racing history, and his Guinness record has never been surpassed. His transition from the Modified ranks to NASCAR's top tier followed a well-worn path through the Northeast's grassroots scene, and his career bridged the regional Modified tradition with the national stage.