Boris Said, whose opportunity to race his No. 60 No Fear Energy Ford Fusion this weekend was lost when Friday’s qualifying session was rained out, will drive the No. 21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion instead, replacing Bill Elliott. Said was shocked when the offer was made by Elliott yesterday.

BORIS SAID — No. 21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion

“Totally shocked. I was walking by Bill Elliott this morning, and he said, ‘Hey, want to drive my car?’ And I was, like, ‘Sure.’ I thought he was kidding around. Nobody had ever done anything like that in my life for me, that generous, where he just stepped aside. He knew how bad I wanted to drive. He’s forgotten more about driving than I know. It’s just something he did for the team, and for me, and I guess that’s why they call him Awesome Bill. It just shocked me, made my day.”

LEN WOOD SAID THAT YOU AND THE TEAM HAD WORKED TOGETHER IN THE PAST, SO THIS ISN’T AN ALL-NEW SITUATION FOR YOU, IS IT? “No. They were actually the first team that ever called me to come up and help one of their drivers, Elliott Sadler, so they were the first people I ever really met in NASCAR Nextel Cup. I’ve known them ever since then, and they’re great guys, the Wood Brothers. To be driving for them is just shocking to me. If anyone would’ve ever told me I’d ever drive a Wood Brothers car, I’d have told they were crazy. For Bill Elliott to step aside like that is just amazing.”

DID YOU TELL THEM YOU WOULD DO IT FULL-TIME NEXT YEAR? “Exactly. I’d do it full-time for anybody. It’s just that yesterday was so disappointing. All the work that Frankie Stoddard and our team’s done to make our No Fear car so fast at every race, and then two weeks in a row you get shut out because of Mother Nature, it hurt. I was pretty grumpy last night.”

HOW DID THE CONVERSATION START? “I was walking to my Busch car and I was walking by Bill, and he was like, ‘Hey, man. You want to drive my car?’ And I’m like, ‘Sure, no problem, I’ll drive.’ I just thought he was kidding around. Mike McSwain came over — he said Fatback, but I have a hard time calling him Fatback, I don’t know what I’m supposed to call him, but he came over and said, ‘No, no. It was Bill’s idea.’ I was shocked. Awesome. Awesome Bill.”

HOW DO YOU FIT IN THE CAR? “The car’s a little tight, bit I’ll adapt. It’s a long race.”

THIS MUST BE AN EMOTIONAL TWO DAYS FOR YOU. “Two weeks in a row — at Daytona, where Frankie Stoddard gave us one of the fastest cars on the track, which would’ve been a sure pole, probably, and a chance to be in the Bud Shootout again, to get shutout and then the same thing happened yesterday. I wasmore disappointed yesterday because right after they called it, it got really nice out. I’m eating dinner at 7:30 last nigh, it was so nice, I’m like, ‘Man, why couldn’t they have finished qualifying?’ It was disappointing night. And then today, to wake up, it was like a Christmas present.”

HOW WAS THE CAR THIS MORNING? “It was pretty good. You just have to get used to working with different people. It’s not my car so I’ve got to be a little careful, so I’ll take it kind of slow. But I think the car will be pretty good.”

WILL THE CAR OF TOMORROW BE EASIER TO ADJUST TO THAN A STANDARD CAR? “Maybe. These guys are so good, you could give them a mule and they’d be just as fast and competitive, so I don’t think it really matters what car it is. It’s still a steering wheel, gas pedal, a brake pedal — all those things.”

[Ford Racing]