Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods - Boris Said Notes

BORIS SAID FEELING MORE COMORTABLE ON OVALS

KANSAS CITY, KAN. (Oct. 5, 2005) -- This weekend's Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway marks the 10th Nextel Cup points event of the season that Boris Said will enter under the MB/Sutton Motorsports banner.

The gangly, free-spirited road-course specialist from Carlsbad, Calif. says that he continues to feel more comfortable on the oval surfaces.

"Each time I get into one of these cars I feel more at ease and the tension drops a few notches," offered Said, whose last Cup race was at California Speedway in early September.

"Going into this season I knew what to expect and so far I feel everything has gone the way I pretty much thought it would,” Said continued. “However, I would have liked to have won one of the two road races, and had a few better finishes on the ovals. But overall there really haven't been any major surprises."

Said, who drives the No. 36 CENTRIX Financial Chevrolet, was in contention to win both of the road races this year at Sonoma, Calif. and at Watkins Glen, N.Y. An untimely pit stop in Sonoma relegated him from the front to a 17th place result. At Watkins Glen, he finished third and was in contention at the end of the race.

Said’s entry at Kansas Speedway will be his third 1.5-mile track of the season. His others were at Texas Motor Speedway in April and Charlotte in May. The Charlotte race -- Coca-Cola 600 -- was the only event of the year that he did not qualify.

"We tested at Kansas and appeared to have some good lap times there," noted Said. "We were scheduled for a two-day test, but the second day got washed out. We practiced in race trim. We never got to practice in qualifying trim because that’s the day it rained. I think we'll still be okay this weekend, but until I know we qualified, I will be carrying a few tons of bricks on my shoulders."

Unfortunately for Said, he will be carrying the make-believe weight for an extra day since qualifying is not scheduled until Saturday.

“I like the races when we practice and qualify on the same day,” offered Said. “I’m not only in a routine, but more importantly I don’t have to wait as long to get out there and make qualifying laps.”

Since Said’s part-time CENTRIX Financial team is not in the top 35 in owner points, he must qualify on time.

“That’s pressure, but we have gone through at every race,” offered Said, whose CENTRIX Financial team is led my veteran crew chief, Frank Stoddard.