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Boris Said, three-time Geoff Bodine Bobsled gold medallist Finishes Fourteenth at the Daytona 500
By Amanda Bird // U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation // February 20, 2007
Lake Placid, N.Y.—Boris Said, three-time gold medallist in the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, had an impressive fourteenth place finish at the Daytona 500 in the No. 60 Sobe No Fear Ford Fusion car on Sunday, Feb. 18.
“I thought it was awesome,” Said remarked about the race. “I spun early and went all the way to the back, I was fortunate we didn’t hit anything. This is the first time I’ve really been racing with these guys really hard. It was a great run for the SoBe No Fear Ford. It was only my third or fourth restrictor-plate race, and we ran all day and finished 14th. I’m really happy with it. It was a blast.”
Said posted the sixth fastest qualifying lap of 185.212 mph last Sunday and was fastest of the twenty-six cars that were outside of the top thirty-five in the 2006 owner's points.
“It’s really exciting for us, because we’ve gotten to know these guys and it gets us more involved in their sport,” U.S. men’s bobsled head coach and Olympian Brian Shimer said. “We have guys to root for now, because we’ve gotten to know them personally.”
Said was the fastest driver on ice in January, when he traded his steering wheel and rubber tires for a set of D-rings and runners. He competed in the Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge instead of practicing in Daytona to prepare for the Rolex 24-hour race as originally scheduled.
“I told my sponsors I had to drive a bobsled instead,” Said commented.
The Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge was created as a fundraiser to assist the U.S. Bobsled Team in continuing efforts to increase research and development for the men’s and women’s teams. After watching the U.S. team compete in European-made sleds in the 1992 Winter Olympics on television, Geoff Bodine, NASCAR icon and Daytona 500 winner, became eager to make American-made sleds with race car technology.
Said won his first Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge in January 2006, and collected two gold medals at this year’s race in January 2007, which was held in conjunction with the U.S. Bobsled National Championships.
“I don't know. I just kind of took to it right away- like a duck to water,” Said commented.
“I think training on ice in Lake Placid helped Boris get a feeling for Daytona,” Shimer joked. “He won the races here pretty convincingly, and he had a natural ability to drive a sled.”
Said’s late father competed at the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics as a bobsled athlete, giving Said a hereditary edge over his race car competitors on the ice at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y.
“The most fun I had at the Bodine Challenge was actually getting a chance to watch the U.S. men and women slide,” Said remarked. “T.V. doesn’t do the sport justice, because you don’t see the athleticism it takes to do it and the explosive energy, so it was really cool to see it in person.”
The U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation would like to congratulate Said on his Daytona 500 results, and commend him for his continuing efforts to assist the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team. So far this year, the U.S. bobsled team has collected thirty-five World Cup medals at six World Cup stops, thanks to the support of fans like Said.
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