Rate this article:
"NASCAR Legends"
“NASCAR Legends” by Don Hunter and Ben White belongs on the shelf of every true NASCAR fan...
Our Price: $19.98
"Hot Rod Pinups II"
A Sequel to his 2005 bestseller Hot Rod Pin-ups, ace photographer David Perry offers an all-new collection of images.
Our Price: $35.00
Mickey Thompson: The Fast Life and Tragic Death of a Racing Legend
The complete story of this true American legend is one worth slowing down for.
Our Price: $25.00
The intensity at the front of the field will be the center of attention, but it's as tough behind... (Greg Aleck photo) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS » More Photos
NAIL BITER Boris Said, who shocked the NASCAR world last year with three top-10 finishes in four Nextel Cup races including a fourth at the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July, is one of the 26 drivers who will be competing for the final eights spots in the Daytona 500. And Said, like the other 25, is feeling the heat.
Asked to describe the pressure, Said was blunt: "It sucks. It's one of the hardest things in racing now is to make these NASCAR Nextel Cup races," he said. "I'll go back to Indy last year, which was probably the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever gone through. I was on the bubble for a little while and it came down to the last guy, who was faster than me in practice. I'll relate it to two movies. One is 'My Dog Skip,' where everybody is crying and sad and the old dog is dying. That's how we were in the trailer. It looked like our best friend just died.
Boris Said: gritting his teeth for the qualifying gauntlet. (LAT photo) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS » More Photos
"And then the minute we made the show 15 seconds later, it turned into 'Brokeback Mountain,' with guys slapping each other on the butts and hugging and kissing each other and telling them we loved each other," he said. "It was such an emotional swing that day. It's just really hard to go through it. I joke
WORDS OF WISDOM If Juan Pablo Montoya wants some advice on how to win friends and influence people as a rookie driver in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, he need look no further than Denny Hamlin, the 2006 Raybestos Rookie of the Year. Hamlin won twice last season and ended the season third in points, a phenomenal performance by any measure. And he did it by being smart, something Montoya would be wise to emulate.
"Going into a rookie season, you really don't have a lot of expectations, from the outside world, the media and other drivers," Hamlin said. "The way to make it easy on yourself is not getting in trouble: Not wrecking, not tearing up cars, getting into veterans, stuff like that. Because if you do that, you're just going to make your job two times harder than it would be normally. It's easy to just slow down some times and say, 'It's not worth wrecking the car.'"
Page 1 of 2
