August 31, 2010
By Allen Madding
When Boris Said won the NAPA Auto Parts 200, presented by Dodge, at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday, it marked his first win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 22 starts spanning nine seasons of competition in the series.
Boris has never run a full season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series or the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He has traditionally been called on by teams competing in the big leagues to drive their cars in the road course events. In fact Said has only run two full seasons in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 1997 and 1998 driving Mark Simo’s No. 44 Federated Auto Parts Ford logging two top five and three top ten finishes in 1997 before capturing his only career win in the series at Kragen/Exide 151 at Sears Point in 1998.
So what else has Said been doing all these years? Well, Boris Said probably never made a conscious decision to race as he grew up in racing. His father Boris “Bob” Said was a competitor in Formula 1 and was even a bobsled driver for the United States.
Born in 1962 near Stamford, Connecticut, racing was in his blood. His initial interest was racing motorcycles, but in 1985 at the age of 23, Boris Said competed in his first Detroit Grand Prix. Two years later, Said began competing with the SCCA. In 1991, he was chosen to drive for Baer Racing in the SCCA World Challenge. In 1993, he was wheeling a BMW M3 in IMSA competition.
In 1995, Said received the call from NASCAR driver Ernie Irvan wanting him to drive the Irvan-Simo NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series No. 4 Ford at Sears Point. Said accepted but his debut ended quickly with an overheating problem after completing two laps relegated him to a 24th finishing position.
Irvan put Said behind the wheel of the No. 28 1-800-Collect Ford for three event in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 1996 with Said recording a 13th and two 16th place finishes before signing to drive for Simo Racing for the 1997 and 1998 seasons. During the 1997 season, Said won the 24 Hours of Daytona driving the No. 71 Callaway C7R in the GT1 division.
During 1998 while recording his first win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Said also won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. He also made his debut in the NASCAR Busch Series at Watkins Glenn driving Jimmy Spencer’s No. 12 Zippo Chevrolet qualifying on the pole and finishing 40th after an engine failure.
Despite losing his full-time ride in the trucks for 1999, Said made six starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying on the pole for the Grainger Industrial Supply 225 at Portland International Raceway and for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 275 at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas. He recorded two top five and two top ten finishes in six starts with the series.
1999 was also Said’s debut in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series driving Mark Simo’s Federated Auto Parts No. 14 Ford at Watkins Glen and at Homestead after failing to qualify at Fontana, Sonoma, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He qualified second for the Frontier at the Glen and led nine laps in the event before and engine failure sidelined him.
In 2000, Said began his journeyman career in NASCAR doing duty in all three top series at the road course events competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at the 1.95-mile road course at Portland, Oregon, in the NASCAR Busch Series at California Speedway, and in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series at Sears Point.
In 2001, Said finished fourth in the NASCAR Busch Series GNC Live Well 200 at Watkins Glen driving Robbie Reiser’s No. 17 Visine Chevrolet. He made two starts in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series -- Sears Point and Watkins Glen. He recorded an eighth place finish in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Global Crossing at the Glen.
In 2002, Said drove the Jasper Engines No. 67 Ford at Watkins Glen and at Sears Point finishing 13th in the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen before failing to qualify for the final event of the season at Homestead-Miami.
In 2003, Said Drove the U.S Army No. 01 Pontiac at Sears Point and Watkins Glen in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series qualifying on the pole for the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sears Point and finishing sixth.
For 2004, Said failed to qualify the No. 36 USG Durock Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series field in the Sirius at the Glen. He finished sixth in the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sears Point while also competing at California Speedway and Homestead-Miami.
Said was back to doing triple duty in NASCAR in 2005. He drove the Circle Bar Truck Corral No. 14 Ford at Kentucky Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He drove for James Finch in the NASCAR Busch Series finishing fifth in the No. 1 Yellow Transportation Dodge at Mexico City and crashing out of the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen.
After attempting to qualify for 12 events in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series during the 2005 season, Said competed in nine events behind the wheel of the No. 36 Centrix Financial Chevrolet. His best finish in the series was a third in the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen.
Said qualified on the pole for the Telcel-Motorola 200 at Mexico City and finished second driving Ray Evernham’s No. 9 Dodge in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2006 while making five other starts in the series, he recorded an eighth place finish at Watkins Glen.
In the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2006, Said made four starts. He qualified fifth for the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sears Point before qualifying on the pole for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona and finishing fourth behind the wheel of the Sobe - No Fear No. 60 Ford.
For 2007, Said made four starts in the NASCAR Busch Series finishing third on the road course at Mexico City. He made five starts in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series finishing ninth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sear Point.
In 2008, Said made three starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series finishing fifth in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. He made three starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series while failing to qualify for two events.
In 2009, Said made two NASCAR Nationwide Series starts and two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts without recording a top ten finish.
So, when Boris Said crawled out of the window of the Zaxby’s No. 09 RAB Racing Ford in Victory Lane for the NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the first word out of his mouth was “Finally!”
Finally indeed, after 22 tries over nine different seasons, Said finally claimed his first checkered flag in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Finally, after coming so close in Mexico City in 2006. For someone who has tutored many of the drivers in NASCAR top three series on how to get around the road courses on the NASCAR schedules, it seemed fitting for Boris Said to have his day in Winner’s Circle in Montreal.
How long before he scores a win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has to be the remaining question on his mind.
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