Boris Said III

18/9/1962

Record updated 18-Sep-06

Boris Said Jnr is an American race car driver from Carlsbad, his NASCAR career began in 1995 as a "Road Course Ringer" primarily due to his extensive road-racing experience. His is co-owner of the SoBe No Fear Team.

Said's early interest was in motorcycle racing. He saw his first automobile race in 1985, the Detroit Grand Prix. He did not begin racing automobiles until the age of 25, very late compared to the usual 14-17 years of age that most professionals start.

He first began racing in 1987 when he began racing in the SCCA.He got his big break with a ride in the SCCA World Challenge series in 1991 driving for Baer Racing, later to become Baer Brake Systems. Upon Baer's withdrawal from the series to focus on the manufacture of brakes in 1992, Boris got another big ride driving in the IMSA series in 1993 driving a BMW M3. He won the 1997 and 1998 24 Hours of Daytona and 1998 12 Hours of Sebring in IMSA. He also became the first American to win the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 2005 driving a BMW M3 GTR.

Said made his NASCAR debut in 1995 in the Craftsman Truck Series at Sears Point International Raceway, driving the #4 Ford F-150 for Irvan-Simo Racing. He started 25th but finished 24th out of a 26-truck field due to overheating problems. He made three starts the following year driving Irvan's #28 1-800-Collect Ford, his best finish a thirteenth at I-70 Speedway.

Said moved up to trucks full-time in 1997 in the #44 Federated Auto Parts Ford. While his amateur season did not yield any top-tens, he finished second at the Pronto Auto Parts 400K and finished sixteenth in the final standings. The following year, he won his first career truck series race at Sears Point, in addition to his first truck pole at Heartland Park Topeka. He also made his Busch Series debut at Watkins Glen International Raceway, starting on the pole but finishing 40th in the #12 Zippo Ford owned by Jimmy Spencer.

In 1999, Said scaled back on his Truck Series schedule, running only six events. He won poles at Portland and Topeka for Irvan-Simo, as well as driving for Team Racing and Bobby Rahal. He made his Winston Cup debut at Watkins Glen, qualifying on the outside pole and leading nine laps before his #14 Ford suffered engine problems. He also drove at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing 34th.

In 2000, he made what would be his final Truck series start for five years at Portland, finishing fifteenth. After a 30th place run at California Speedway, he returned to Cup, driving the #23 for Jimmy Spencer, and finished 42nd at Sears Point. He also attempted the Cup race at Watkins Glen, but failed to qualify due to a lack of owner's points. He saw limited action in 2001, finishing fourth in a Busch Series race at Watkins Glen in a Robbie Reiser-owned car, and drove a pair of races for Jasper Motorsports, finishing eighth at the Glen. After running with Jasper again in 2002, Said served as a fill-in driver for Jerry Nadeau at MB2/MBV Motorsports. He won the pole and finished sixth at Sears Point.

Said signed onto drive a limited schedule for the team in 2004, running the #36 Centrix Financial Chevrolet, and finished sixth once again at Sears Point. The team expanded to run more races for 2005, where his best finish in nine starts was a third at Watkins Glen. During that season, he returned to the Truck series finishing 35th at Kentucky Speedway while filling for an injured Rick Crawford. He also ran two races in the Busch Series for Phoenix Racing, and had a fifth-place finish at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Said signed a contract with Evernham Motorsports to help the team's road course program in 2006. He won the pole at Mexico City, and finished second. Said also was announced as the driver of the #4 Geico Dodge Charger for Biagi-DenBeste Racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway, starting 40th and finished 31st. In May 2006, Said and his crew chief Frank Stoddard and Mark Simo announced the creation No Fear Racing, which will use equipment from Roush Racing. The team's slogan is "Sell more cases, run more races." They plan on entering five Cup races starting with the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. He won the pole at the Pepsi 400, his first NEXTEL Cup pole on an oval. Following his pole win, he promised a pit reporter that if he won the race or the race at Watkins Glen International, that he would shave his head. He was leading the race with three laps to go, and finished fourth, his highest career NASCAR finish on an oval track. In a post-race interview Boris said his performance in the Pepsi 400 was "the highlight of my career".



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