Said nearly wins in final tuneup for Sonoma

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada -- As the rest of the Nextel Cup Series focused on the challenge of taming the two-mile Michigan International Speedway oval, Boris Said spent the weekend doing what he does best -- challenging for a victory on a road course.

Boris Said will run at Sonoma next weekend. Credit: Autostock

Said, who will likely contend for the pole and the race victory in next weekend's Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., came up just 1.317 seconds shy of victory in the Grand-Am Cup Series Mosport 200 at the historic Mosport International Raceway on Saturday.

Co-driving the No. 99 Anchor Racing BMW M3 with Anders Hainer, Said charged toward the front after taking over in the cockpit just past the halfway point in the race.

However, Grand-Am Cup Series points leader David Empringham -- who has run countless laps at the track near his home in Toronto -- proved to have the measure of Said in the closing laps and went on to score his second victory in six races this season with co-driver Gunnar Jeannette.

Empringham and Jeannette shared the No. 05 Ford Mustang for the Canada-based Multimatic Motorsports team, the same team that fielded the No. 49 Crown Royal Ford Multimatic Daytona Prototype for NASCAR champions Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle in February's Rolex 24 At Daytona for the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series.

"It was a fun race," Said remarked following the Mosport 200. "Anders did a great job. This is a new team that just started this year and it is getting better and better every week. David Empringham is an unbelievable driver here. We have raced so many times together here over the years in 24-hour races and we have had a blast.

"Today the Mustang just had too much for us up the straightaway. We were way better on half the track and they were way better on the other half. It is just the way it falls some times."

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It was Said's first podium finish in the Grand-Am Cup Series this season, and was his best result since he and Hainer teamed-up for a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway last September. While Said is considered a road racing expert in NASCAR circles and clearly has the experience to back it up, he was quick to point out the benefits of further sharpening his skills in the Grand-Am Cup Series.

"You really learn how to race close in Grand-Am, there are so many cars and your lapping cars all the time," he said. "Those (Nextel) Cup cars are just so much different. They have so much horsepower and it is like riding a bull and this is like riding a go-kart. It is different, but racing is racing, and I love racing."

Minutes following the Mosport 200, Said was already looking forward to strapping himself into the No. 36 Chevrolet in Sonoma next weekend. While he has already turned in some impressive performances in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, he knows that he has a golden opportunity for a strong performance in California's wine country.

"I just can't wait for Sears Point," Said explained. "This is the best opportunity I have ever had for a good finish and I am still looking for my first top-five in NASCAR. The whole Centrix team is ready and we had a really good test there two weeks ago. It is the first time I have really had a team built around me with Frankie Stoddard and all the guys and Hendrick motors. I have the best package out there. It's as good as Jeff Gordon and he is usually the guy that sets the bar, so I just can't wait for Friday to start."

Based on his many years of road racing experience and the fact that he spent this weekend on one of North America's most demanding road courses, it is safe to assume that Said shouldn't take long to get up to speed when practice begins next Friday.