NASCAR: Boris Said a Roush racing ringer?
by Shawn Sillinger
Said, one of the “road race ringers” who popped up two weeks ago at Infineon Raceway, pulled one of the biggest surprises of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season when he claimed the pole for last Saturday’s Pepsi 400 at Daytona International. The
It doesn’t look like Said is going to go quietly into that good night. He’s part of a brand-new team called No Fear Racing, owned in part by fellow road ringer Mark Simo and employing Frank Stoddard as crew chief. Jack Roush and Ray Evernham are providing some equipment as a form of payback for Said’s expertise in helping them out with their road-course programs. Roush is being especially helpful to No Fear Racing. Said will have the benefit of using Roush Racing engines, chassis and pit crews, along with top-notch tech support.
No Fear Racing is also getting sponsorship from Connecticut-based beverage makers SoBe, who produce the “No Fear” drink. The team’s current slogan: “Sell more cases, run more races.” How many more races that will be is unclear; some reports say there will be two more this season on the Nextel Cup circuit, others say three. The races at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen (the other Cup road track) are definitely part of the plan. Handicappers will be well advised to keep an eye on Said’s progress, and treat him as if he were driving for Roush Racing itself.
Meanwhile, it looks like Roush has a great opportunity to make an impact this Sunday at the USG Sheetrock 400, taking place at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Two of the team’s drivers are among the favorites to take the checkered flag: Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, each priced at +700. Biffle is just six points behind Denny Hamlin for 10th place in the drivers standings – the cutoff point for qualifying to join the Chase for the Cup. Kenseth, meanwhile, has closed to within 18 points of Jimmie Johnson (+600) for first place.
Kenseth appears to have the best shot of the five Roush Racing drivers to make an impact this week. He doesn’t have any victories to his credit at Chicagoland, one of the newer “cookie-cutter” superspeedways on the Cup circuit. But he did finish second last year after qualifying in fourth place, and he raced well in his previous four appearances there despite having to start from well back on the grid. Biffle, in contrast, has generally qualified well but finished poorly, placing no higher than last year’s 11th.
The other members of the Roush Racing contingent are Mark Martin (+1100), Carl Edwards (+1400) and Jamie McMurray (+2600). Last year, Roush put all five of his team members in the Chase – Kurt Busch (+1800) still being part of things at the time instead of McMurray. Martin is still in Chase position in sixth place, but Edwards is 14th and McMurray is a virtual afterthought in 16th. Martin has three Top-10 results at Chicagoland in five appearances. McMurray was eighth for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2003, while Edwards placed 39th last year in his USG Sheetrock 400 debut.
