Boris Said’s Coronado Speed Festival birthday

How does accomplished and versatile driver Boris Said – a veteran of the Daytona 500 and a champion at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Nurburgring – spend his 53rd birthday? Could it be at the Coronado Speed Festival competing in his very first vintage sports car race? Why not?

A bit of a surprise entry in the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) Group 8 class for mass-produced sports cars prior to 1973, when RACER spied Said's entry we hunted him down. Cornered, Boris joked that as a part-time member of the Joe Gibbs NASCAR team he realized how much younger his teammates were and thought he might give vintage racing a try.

"I think if you added up their ages they still don't have as many years as I've accumulated," Said shared with a smile. "When I first started racing I came to the track with my car, a tire gauge and a lawn chair. When my wife heard I was going to drive in my first vintage race on my birthday she decided to give me a lawn chair for a present." (RIGHT: Boris enjoying his gift at Coronado)

Said, who owns a BMW dealership in Murrieta, Calif., is driving – logically enough – a white with blue and red trim 1968 BMW 2002 this weekend. He is evidence that fans attending SVRA events need to carefully study the entry lists in their programs because there is every likelihood a "ringer" is likely to show up. Then again, as a road course expert frequently entered in NASCAR races at Watkins Glen and Sonoma by teams looking to gain edge, the "ringer" role is something Boris Said is more than familiar with.

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The SVRA race groups spent Friday practicing while the San Diego Fleetweek Foundation, promoters of the Coronado Speed Festival, continued to set up for their big days of Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday the 11 SVRA run groups will qualify for the Sunday feature races. They will be joined by a special homage to the Panama-America Exposition road race conducted on nearby Point Loma in 1915. Twelve period-correct cars include two surviving entries of the original race will take part in a truly historic moment. That tribute will take place during the noon hour.

The backdrop to the auto racing will be the West Coast's only open house to an active military base – the North Island Naval Air Station. This includes rare active battleship tours, large displays of military equipment, a military-personnel NASCAR pit stop competition and a host of family friendly activities such as kiddie go-kart rides and zip lines. Jaguar and BMW are on hand with arrive-and-drive opportunities. Organizers expect as many as 20,000 fans to attend. Active military and family members are admitted free of charge.