LAKE PLACID, NY - The words rang loud and clear at Mount van Hoeverden on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, as Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse started their women's bobsleigh descent.

They had tied a track record for fastest start, which elicited whoops from Canadian officials and spectators. Humphries had no clue. She was too busy driving to a third-place finish in the second World Cup race of the year.

"Yes and no," said Humphries, of Calgary, when asked if she can tell when her team has nailed a start.

"Generally, we have amazing brakemen in Team Canada, anyhow. Any four could give us a start record. All I do as a pilot is just go out, push my hardest and hope I'm fast at the end. With the brakemen we have, all I need is to be consistently."

Humphries, who is in just her fourth year as a driver, turned in a veteran's performance in ruining what was set up to be a podium sweep by Germany.

The Germans were 1-2-3 after the first race and they obliterated the field in getting the first two spots, with Cathleen Martini's time of one minute, 56.15 seconds more than a full second faster than Humphries' time of 1:57.23. Sandra Kiriasis of Germany was second in 1:56.56.

Helen Upperton of Calgary placed seventh in a time of 1:57.46 while Amanda Stepenko, also of Calgary, was 12th in 1:58.17 in a race that was marred by a spectacular crash by Japan's Manami Hino, whose sled started to slide backwards down the track, necessitating a lengthy delay.

In the men's two-man bobsleigh race, John Napier of Lake Placid won in a time of 1:53.62, 0.26 seconds ahead of countryman Steve Holcomb and third-place finisher Ivo Rueegg of Switzerland.

Canada's Pierre Lueders of Edmonton was fourth in 1:54.23 while Lyndon Rush of Sylvan Lake, Alta., came in seventh in a time of 1:54.47. The four-man race goes Sunday, with Rush coming off a first-place finish in Park City, Utah, last weekend.

Napier's win came on a track situated less than a mile from his year-round home where his father Bill used to race and oversee the U.S. Bobsleigh Development Program.

It was a stunning win for a driver who is fighting for an Olympic berth and also thinking about an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan with the Vermont National Guard.

"I want to go with them," said Napier, who was cheered on by his mother and sister and a small but vocal crowd at Mt. van Hoeverden.

"There is a chance they might let me deploy later. It's all up to the U.S. Army. The WCAP (World Class Athlete Program), it's all on them and how they want to use me. I'm ready to go to war if I have to."

There are home-field advantages and home-track advantages and then there is the advantage Napier has here: his family's house is just down the road from the track. Literally.

"It's the second house on the left down this entrance road," he said, motioning with his thumb. "Less than a mile. I'll drive home, but I could walk if I wanted to. Or, jog."

The Canadian women's program has enviable depth. These World Cup races are being used to decide which combination of driver and brakeman will represent Canada in Vancouver.

Moyse, from Summerside, P.E.I., Shelley-Ann Brown of Pickering, Ont., (who pushed for Upperton) and Amanda Moreley of Surrey, B.C., (who pushed for Stepenko) know they're in a fight for jobs.

"There's an incredible amount of depth in the team," said Brown. "The brakemen in Canada are probably the best in the world, so I feel like I'm in a class of giants. It's awesome. We all push each other to be our best."

Upperton was clearly not pleased with her run. She is fifth in World Cup standings, while Humphries is in third place with 376 points, behind Martini and Kiriasis.

"Fifth and sixth in this race is not great for me," said Upperton. "But if I keep building on things, hopefully by the end we'll be in a good position for the Olympics, and that's the main thing this winter."

Lueders had similar sentiments after his race. "It was an improvement on last week and that's what it's all about," said Lueders, who finished ninth in the two-man race at Park City and moved into fifth-place in the World Cup standings with 344 points. Holcomb leads with 402, while Rush is eighth with 336.

"The whole goal for this season is to get as many points as possible so we don't find ourselves starting 13th or 14th like we did in Whistler. A similar thing will happen in the four-man Sunday. The first six sleds will have an advantage and then the big four-man sleds will start to chew up the track. What we saw in Whistler after the eighth sled, the track was two-tenths slower."

The Canadian bobsleigh program approached the Lake Placid races in something of a state of flux after Rush's win. Lueders has been the big dog of the program since Nagano and while Brown politely declined to comment about Lueders after the race, Lueders was full of praise for Rush.

"Of course, there's motivation for me (going into the four-man race)," said Lueders. "It's been 15 years since another Canadian has won a race, so, it was exciting to see another Canadian. I'd rather see a Canadian on the top of the podium than the same old Germans, Russians and Swiss.

"I thought it was a great result," Lueders said, continuing. "One of the goals I always had, when Chris Lori retired, was to try to develop and keep the results going. I was able to do that for many years. At some point in time there's a natural progression where you have to accept that you're a little older. I'm not 20 any more.

"That means that I've done my job as my teammates before me did theirs to keep the program growing and getting stronger into the future."

The World Cup circuit heads to Europe after Sunday, with CFL player Jesse Lumsden of the Edmonton Eskimos joining the team. He will be auditioning for a spot on Lueders' team.