Boris Said Wins First Nationwide Race

The NAPA Auto Parts 200 Nationwide race held this Sunday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will be one to remember for driver Boris Said, who managed to add to his name the first win in the series. His win came after a series of mihaps for the other drivers, starting with Robby Gordon's car running out of gas and Max Papis' mistake.

Said became a contender for the win after Gordon ran out of gas on a green-white-checkered-flag finish, sending the race in a three laps overtime. Becoming number 1 for a period, Said was passed by Papis, who in turn lost the lead back to Said after the former went wide in Turn 14.

“I’m shocked … overwhelmed. I thought I was going to cry, but I didn’t. My wife would have made fun of me. But I was pretty happy,” Said commented after the race.

Said managed to finish the race 0.012-second ahead of runner up Max Papis, the closest ever on a road course in the Nationwide Series. The series of firsts which came with Said's win continues, as the win was also the first for car owner Robby Benton and the team formed by crew chief Scott Zipadelli and Said.

“I don’t think we had the fastest car today,” Said added, “but we definitely had the smartest race strategy with Scott Zipadelli as the crew chief -- the first time I ever worked with him. We had great communication, he called a great race, and it was really about managing the race track, managing your brakes.”