Boris Said: Now explain all this once more.....

 One of America's great road racers, Said is still hoping to build a career in NASCAR (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
  

   By Mike Mulhern;
   mikemulhern.net

   WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.
   Boris Said's NASCAR career has been up and down, and mostly down lately. But sunny weather expected this weekend may turn things around.
   "We've been rained out three times here," Said said, referring to failing to make the field because without enough points he couldn't get on the grid. "So we listed Terry Labonte as the driver for the car, and if it rained out qualifying, he would run the race for us.
   "But it looks sunny, so we're going to run it."
    Said has been trying to get his part-time, partly-owned team in more solid shape; he failed to make the Daytona 500 field, and his only NASCAR run has been at Sonoma, where he qualified ninth and finished 24th.
    So a lot may be riding on Said's performance here.
   "I plan on being in Montreal (for the Nationwide race later the month), but they haven't committed yet," Said said. "Hopefully if we bring this car back in one piece, we'll get the go-ahead."
   And on the Cup side? "We were going to go to Daytona in July, but the weather looked terrible, so we decided not to try, and that was a good  call, because it rained out qualifying," Said said.
    Said runs Fords, with some engineering support through Jack Roush, and with veteran Frank Stoddard as crew chief and part owner.
   Earlier this year Said and Rick Clark announced a "merger" that would create a team that would run in 12 to 18 Sprint Cup events this season. That plan, given the economic environment, didn't quite go as planned.
   However Friday Said announced that Clark had indeed become majority owner of the team, with a 51 percent share. And the team plans a fuller Cup schedule next season, Said said.
   That could be a plus for NASCAR's diversity program: Clark is an African-American businessman and veteran NFL sports agent.
   How all these owners fit together will be interesting to watch. John Carter, the Georgia businessman who just bought Jeremy Mayfield's Toyota operation two weeks ago, is part owner too, and is in fact listed as official owner of Said's car here.
   "It's all one organization," Said insists. "John Carter came on board this year; he'll still be part of this operation. It's hard for the big teams right, so you can imagine how tough it is for everyone else. Hopefully we can get everything together and be at Daytona next year."