Teacher Said says student Kahne has surpassed him

SONOMA, Calif. -- Boris Said unfolded his lanky frame from his No. 60 No Fear Chevrolet and finally allowed himself to exhale.

The side of his car might have proclaimed "No Fear," but Said knew the truth. He had plenty to fear, and did, during his Friday qualifying run for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

Lineup

Toyota/Save Mart 350

Pos.	Driver	Speed	Time
1.	K. Kahne	92.153	77.740
2.	J. Johnson	92.040	77.836
3.	Ku. Busch	92.005	77.865
4.	B. Labonte	91.943	77.918
5.	J. Gordon	91.923	77.935
6.	E. Sadler	91.843	78.003
7.	M. Ambrose	91.819	78.023
8.	R. Gordon	91.732	78.097
9.	R. Newman	91.519	78.279
10.	G. Biffle	91.448	78.340
14.	B. Said	91.182	78.568

• Lineup | Videos | Photos

"The pressure you have if you screw up is just so bad. I haven't made a Sprint Cup start in a while -- the last three attempts [dating back to the 2007 season]," Said said. "I drove so slow in that qualifying lap, so cautious, that I was about halfway around and I said to myself, 'You're going too slow. You're not gonna make it.'

"But this car is really fast. I've got a good racecar. I'm in the show [Sunday], and that's all that matters."

He's in the Sunday show after turning a lap of 91.182 mph, making the 1.99-mile road-course circuit in 78.568 seconds despite holding back. It was good enough to place him 14th on the starting grid.

As relieved as the road-course specialist was about making the field, he appeared to be as happy for the young man sitting on the pole as he was for himself. Said took satisfaction in Kasey Kahne's pole-winning lap of 92.153 mph because he has spent time the last two years helping tutor Kahne in the fine art of road racing.

"I feel pretty proud of Kasey Kahne. I taught him for the last couple of years, and now he kicks the teacher's ass -- so it's pretty cool," Said said.

Said insisted that Kahne's run to the pole was no fluke. Despite the fact Kahne has never finished higher than 23rd in four previous starts at Infineon, Said thinks both he and the kid he helped teach the road-course ropes have shots at winning Sunday's event.

"He has out-learned the master. He's one of the best racers in the world," said Said of Kahne. "I rode shotgun with him in a two-seater [during testing at Virginia International Raceway], and he's an amazing driver. When you get to see what he's doing up close like that, you're like, 'Wow. He's good.'

"It kind of makes me proud to see him do it. We went to VIR a couple times in a two-seater -- and he's just good."

Kahne chuckled when told that Said is insisting the pupil has surpassed the teacher.

"I definitely haven't learned more than Boris on these types of tracks, believe me. He's very good at them," Kahne said. "I enjoyed working with him and he taught me a lot of things about how I could go faster."

Not everything that Said taught Kahne was able to be applied immediately, according to Kahne. Because of their differences in driving styles, Kahne said he has more or less parceled out the information Said gave him a little at a time as he feels ready to make changes in the way he attacks a road course.

"My driving style is a lot different than his. So it's difficult to use some of the things he told me instantly," Kahne said. "But I think I've been able to keep all of it in my head over the last year, and slowly when we go to test and when we race I can keep trying to figure out how to use some of the things he taught me."

That included incorporating some of them into his eye-popping Friday qualifying run.

"When we were in two-seaters together, I rode with him and then he rode with me. I watched him, and he picked my stuff apart when I was doing good and when I was doing bad. You can learn a lot from a guy like that, for sure," Kahne said.

"It's just that when you've got two different styles of driving it makes it kind of difficult to just flip over and drive like him the next day. But I think I've been able to put some of the things he's helped me with into effect. I think I did it [Friday] and we got the pole."

TNT Summer Series

Date	Race	Time
June 8	Pocono	12:30 p.m. ET
June 15	Michigan	12:30 p.m. ET
June 22	Infineon	3:30 p.m. ET
June 29	N. Hampshire	12:30 p.m. ET
July 5	Daytona	6:30 p.m. ET
July 12	Chicagoland	6:30 p.m. ET

• TNT Summer Series

Said, on the other hand, couldn't go after the pole like he really wanted. In eight previous Cup starts at Infineon, he won one pole and registered four top-10 finishes, with a best of sixth coming in 2004.

But Friday marked his first attempt to qualify for a Cup race since he failed to make the 2008 season-opening Daytona 500. He said he knew he had a car good enough to make it -- and perhaps even make a run at Kahne's pole-winning lap time -- but he just knew he had to play it conservative and not make any mistakes that might have cost him making the race.

"If I was in the top 35 [in points] and had a provisional, absolutely I would have had a shot at the pole," Said said. "But when you don't have that, you have to be more conservative and make sure you get in. It's just too tight."

Afterward, he was clearly relieved.

"I feel like two cinderblocks just fell off my shoulders," he said. "I haven't made a race in a few races, so there was even more pressure. You're balled up with nerves. You just go out there and try to think of the positives like a golfer, but the negatives are in your mind. You're like, 'Don't screw up. Don't go off the road.'

"I wish that Jeff Gordon and Dale Jr. and Kasey Kahne could go through some of this stuff that the go-or-go homers have to go through. They'd lose some hair."

Of course Said still possesses a full head of his trademark bushy, curly hair, and now he has a spot in Sunday's race as well.

"Now it's just all fun," he said, smiling.

Kahne hopes it is for him, too. With Said's knowledge stored in his own head, he hopes to keep his own hot streak going.

"It's definitely nice to have Boris Said try to improve you on your road racing," said Kahne, who has driven his No. 9 Dodge to two wins and a second-place finish in his last four starts. "I like our chances Sunday."