Said grabs shock Daytona pole
Boris Said has taken a shock pole position for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway
The former sportscar driver and road course specialist is only in his second NASCAR Nextel Cup race with his newly-formed No Fear Racing team.
Said set the fastest time early in the qualifying session and then had to wait as the remaining 33 drivers tried, and failed, to usurp him.
"It was really easy," said Said. "Our SoBe No Fear Racing team has done an unbelievable job in just eight weeks. We've had a lot of help from Roush Industries.
"I feel like the chimp that gets to fly the rocket. I just sat there and held it wide open. All the guys in our shop did a great job and made me look like a hero."
Reigning champion Tony Stewart will join Said on the front row. He was similarly dismissive of his own contribution to qualifying.
"I'm really happy about the team's effort today," Stewart said. "I didn't have anything to do with it, I just got to drive it around there. The crew guys get all the credit for today."
David Stremme, Jeff Gordon and Joe Nemechek complete the top five.
With qualifying being particularly inconsequential at Daytona, many drivers chose to focus on their race set-up and sacrifice a high starting position for a car that will work well in the drafting situations that will dominate Saturday night's race.
This will be only the third superspeedway race in Said's career, and he readily admits that pole will be the high point of his weekend.
"I'm sure they'll drop-kick me to the back pretty quick in the race, but I don't care, I'm going to use it as a learning experience," he said. "I want to do 200 laps and hopefully use my head and get this car to the front.
"If I finish between 15th and 20th, that would be like a win for me."
Starting positions:
Pos Driver Make Speed Time 1. Boris Said Ford 186.143 48.350 2. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 185.651 48.478 + 0.128 3. David Stremme Dodge 185.579 48.497 + 0.147 4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 185.506 48.516 + 0.166 5. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 185.464 48.527 + 0.177 6. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 185.460 48.528 + 0.178 7. Dale Jarrett Ford 185.441 48.533 + 0.183 8. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 185.086 48.626 + 0.276 9. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 185.082 48.627 + 0.277 10. Matt Kenseth Ford 185.006 48.647 + 0.297 11. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 184.854 48.687 + 0.337 12. Greg Biffle Ford 184.782 48.706 + 0.356 13. Elliott Sadler Ford 184.782 48.706 + 0.356 14. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 184.714 48.724 + 0.374 15. Travis Kvapil Chevrolet 184.650 48.741 + 0.391 16. Kurt Busch Dodge 184.494 48.782 + 0.432 17. Brian Vickers Chevrolet 184.328 48.826 + 0.476 18. Mike Wallace Ford 184.253 48.846 + 0.496 19. Michael Waltrip Dodge 184.147 48.874 + 0.524 20. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 184.136 48.877 + 0.527 21. Tony Raines Chevrolet 184.015 48.909 + 0.559 22. Hermie Sadler Ford 184.004 48.912 + 0.562 23. Ryan Newman Dodge 183.981 48.918 + 0.568 24. Mark Martin Ford 183.974 48.920 + 0.570 25. Robby Gordon Chevrolet 183.963 48.923 + 0.573 26. Jamie McMurray Ford 183.951 48.926 + 0.576 27. Kirk Shelmerdine Chevrolet 183.861 48.950 + 0.600 28. Scott Riggs Dodge 183.767 48.975 + 0.625 29. Carl Edwards Ford 183.580 49.025 + 0.675 30. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 183.580 49.025 + 0.675 31. Ken Schrader Ford 183.572 49.027 + 0.677 32. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 183.456 49.058 + 0.708 33. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.441 49.062 + 0.712 34. Bobby Labonte Dodge 183.359 49.084 + 0.734 35. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 183.322 49.094 + 0.744 36. Jeff Green Chevrolet 182.741 49.250 + 0.900 37. Reed Sorenson Dodge 182.704 49.260 + 0.910 38. Kasey Kahne Dodge 182.622 49.282 + 0.932 39. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 182.596 49.289 + 0.939 40. Casey Mears Dodge 182.009 49.448 + 1.098 41. Dave Blaney Dodge 181.855 49.490 + 1.140 42. Jeremy Mayfield Dodge 181.594 49.561 + 1.211 43. Chad Chaffin Chevrolet 183.554 49.032 + 0.682
Share Or Save This Story
History repeats as 70th anniversary of Mallory Park is celebrated
How Sutton's BTCC steamroller overcame Snetterton challenges
Rossi faces key decision: Who will replace di Giannantonio at VR46?
Red Bull reacts to Verstappen’s criticism – why ‘I told you’ moments are needed
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments