When it comes to qualifying for the Daytona 500, Boris Said hopes the odds will be with him after experiencing an unusual amount of bad luck in his last three Sprint Cup weekends. Said will attempt to start his third Daytona 500, driving a newly-sponsored #60 7-Eleven Slurpee Ford Fusion.

But before the green flag drops for NASCAR’s most prestigious race, Said, a part-time racer, will have to exorcise a couple of demons to break his recent qualifying jinx. During the Daytona summer race in July, Said appeared to have the pole locked up for the Pepsi 400. But with only 12 drivers remaining to qualify, a thunderstorm swept through the area, forcing NASCAR officials to cancel qualifying and set the starting field by owner points. Instead of earning the No. 1 starting position, which would have also earned him an invitation to Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout (Feb. 9), Said packed his belongings and headed home to Southern California.

“You talk about being deflated — I was definitely in the dumps — we went from hero to zero in a short time,” recalled Said. “It was like we got pick-pocketed and couldn’t do a thing about it. Not being in the Bud Shootout was the biggest loss.” Unfortunately, it didn’t get any better for Said. At his next Cup event at the Watkins Glen road course in August, Said, one of the foremost road racers in the world, would have easily qualified. But rain arrived at the wrong time again and qualifying was canceled with owner points setting the starting field. Though Said was later offered and accepted to drive the #21 Wood Brothers Ford in the Watkins Glen race, his #60 No Fear team took another heart-wrenching exit from the track.

Then at Talladega Superspeedway, he qualified 10th overall. But a 10th place effort on that day was not good enough to make the 43-car show. The first nine qualifiers were also drivers who needed to qualify on time. Under NASCAR rules, only eight teams outside the top 35 in points earn a starting berth. Except for last summer’s debacle at Daytona, Said and crew chief Frank Stoddard have enjoyed success at the famed 2.5-mile tri-oval. Said won the Cup pole in the 2006 summer race and was fourth fastest the summer before. In last year’s Pole Day for the 500, Said posted the fastest time among teams not automatically qualified. He also qualified on Pole Day in his first attempt at the 500 in 2005, claiming the 11th fastest speed overall.

[DMF Communications PR]