Will somebody put Said in a full-time Cup ride?

Let's go down the list together:

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- NASCAR's most popular driver who admits without road-course help he would know nothing about the serpentine stops.

• Send Josh your thoughts ...

• Carl Edwards -- The fifth-place finisher at Sonoma and sixth-place finisher at Watkins Glen.

• Kasey Kahne -- The Cup Series' heart throb who started second at Watkins Glen and was on the fringe of a top-10 run until he went off course on the final lap and lost 10 spots.

• Kevin Harvick -- 2006 Watkins Glen winner.

There's more -- 25 to be exact. Twenty-five drivers have received help from Boris Said when it comes to road-course racing.

Just last week while champion Jimmie Johnson was breaking wrists in a celebrity golf tournament and other NASCAR big-timers were off somewhere lounging in Paris or fishing in Mexico, Said was driving back from Road Atlanta after a day of training Busch Series driver Steve Wallace how to properly navigate the curves of a road course.

That's what Said does: he teaches. Nextel Cup owners -- most notably Jack Roush and Ray Evernham -- ask for Said's help in training their young thoroughbreds the ways of road racing, and Said freely obliges.

His payment: Engines from Roush and a five-race Busch deal from Evernham for 2007.

"It's fun most of the time just to see how different teams run," Said said of lending his knowledge to anybody who asks. "It's not much fun sitting in the passenger seat of a Cup car, though."

Yet when it comes to being offered a full-time ride of his own, Said's phone isn't ringing.

"Jack didn't call me up and ask if I wanted to drive the 6 car, if that's what you mean," he said. "That would've been a dream come true for me."

Any opportunity would be a dream. It's not much fun for him watching as hoards preach that NASCAR's talent pool from which to draw has dried up. Or to watch as Driver X, labeled as "the next Denny Hamlin" or "the next Carl Edwards" flounders in the back of the pack when he knows he can do better. He'd never say that, though.

Put simply, Boris Said is a Cup driver without a ride. He teaches although he doesn't have a job. He's relied upon for his experience although it's the lack thereof that keeps Said from being behind the wheel. (Continued)