At long last, road-course ace Boris Said is a winner in the Nationwide Series.
Said won Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve when—with the two strongest cars out of contention—the always unpredictable event ended with Said beating Max Papis in a drag race to the finish.
Said’s .012-second margin of victory was the closest ever on a road course in the Nationwide Series, the fifth closest overall in series history and the closest since 1998 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The victory was more than just a first for Said, 47. It was the first Nationwide win for car owner Robby Benton and the first for the new pairing of Said and crew chief Scott Zipadelli.
“I don’t think we had the fastest car today,” Said admitted, “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.
“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.” NASCAR.com
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve finished third in front of his home crowd, while Brad Keselowski, the current points leader, and Paul Menard rounded out the top-five.
Joey Logano finished sixth, followed by J.R. Fitzpatrick, Parker Kligerman, Justin Allgaier and Trevor Bayne.
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 9 Boris Said Ford 2 33 Max Papis Chevrolet 3 32 Jacques Villeneuve Toyota 4 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 5 98 Paul Menard Ford 6 20 Joey Logano Toyota 7 7 J.R. Fitzpatrick Chevrolet 8 26 Parker Kligerman Dodge 9 12 Justin Allgaier Dodge 10 99 Trevor Bayne Toyota 11 24 D.J. Kennington Ford 12 18 Brad Coleman Toyota 13 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 14 207 Robby Gordon Toyota 15 40 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 16 5 Victor Gonzalez Jr. Chevrolet 17 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 18 182 Tomy Drissi Dodge 19 70 Mark Green Chevrolet 20 60 Carl Edwards Ford 21 38 Jason Leffler Toyota 22 16 Colin Braun * Ford 23 10 Tayler Malsam Toyota 24 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. * Ford 25 15 Michael Annett Toyota 26 23 Alex Kennedy Chevrolet 27 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 28 197 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 29 87 Paulie Harraka Chevrolet 30 88 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 31 159 Kyle Kelley Chevrolet 32 100 Patrick Carpentier Toyota 33 147 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 34 34 Tony Raines Chevrolet 35 21 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 36 35 Tony Ave Chevrolet 37 81 Michael McDowell Ford 38 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 39 27 Andrew Ranger Dodge 40 11 Brian Scott * Toyota 41 89 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 42 136 Jeff Green Chevrolet 43 43 Justin Marks Ford
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