Elliot hands car to Said

Said had been hoping to put his No. 60 No Fear Ford Fusion on the grid for Sunday, but the rain prevented him from doing so. He had previously lost a likely pole position at Daytona for the same reason last month.

But Said was then surprised when Elliot, whose car is on the grid thanks to his past champion status, asked him if he wanted to drive his No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford in Sunday's race.

"I was walking by Bill Elliot this morning, and he said 'Hey, want to drive my car?'" Said said. "And I was like 'sure'. I thought he was kidding around. Nobody had ever done anything like that in my life for me, that generous, where he just stepped aside.

"He knew how bad I wanted to drive. He's forgotten more about driving that I know. It's just something he did for the team, and for me, and I guess that's why they call him Awesome Bill. It just shocked me, made my day."

Despite his good mood today, he had been more than disappointed on Friday, when he criticised NASCAR's decision to cancel qualifying instead of rescheduling the session for Saturday.

"I don't understand why the schedule can't be adjusted and just qualify tomorrow when it's going to be sunny," he had said on Friday after qualifying was rained out.

"It's just hard for a small team. It pretty much puts us out of business. It puts me out of business. It's just a lot of income lost."

Said, who has worked for Wood Brothers in the past as a driver coach, will make his fourth Nextel Cup start of the season on Sunday at Watkins Glen, where he finished third two years ago. He is also competing in today's Busch race.