AUTO RACING

Rain KOs Said, Helps Reutimann

Published: Jul 7, 2007

DAYTONA BEACH - Boris

Said's NASCAR team is called No Fear Racing, after a brand owned by part-owner Mark Simo.

Friday night at Daytona, it was No Luck Racing.

Said, who won the pole and finished fourth in last year's Pepsi 400, was on the pole Friday night with 14 cars left - none that appeared to be a threat to knock him off.

That's when the rain came, ending qualifying and forcing NASCAR to scratch all of the speeds that had been posted and set the field by the owners standings. That put points leader Jeff Gordon and second-place Denny Hamlin on the front row.

Said, whose team is 50th in the owners points, didn't make the race. Nor did Michael Waltrip, who was fifth-fastest on the board but didn't have enough points.

But the rainout was a major break for Zephyrhills' David Reutimann.

Reutimann had made his attempt only minutes before the rain arrived. Though he was seventh-fastest at the time, he was on the bubble because the top 35 in owners points had guaranteed starting berths.

The rainout got him the 41st starting position.

"It was going to be close," Reutimann said. "We were right there on the edge of guys that were going to make it or not. I'm glad that [teammate] Dale Jarrett and I were able to get in, but it was a double-edged sword because Michael was definitely going to be in and now he can't be."

Said thought NASCAR should have completed the qualifying session this morning rather than cancel it.

"We put so much work in this car, and now we have the most expensive show car ever built," he said, referring to the fact that tonight's race is the last for NASCAR's current car on a restrictor-plate track and the existing cars will become obsolete.

ALMIROLA THIRD: Tampa's Aric Almirola followed up his pole for Daytona's Busch Series race in February with a No. 3 qualifying effort for the Winn-Dixie 250, which was rescheduled for today after Friday night's rain.

Almirola, driving Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 20 Chevy, qualified just ahead of defending Busch champion and Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick, and just behind pole winner Jason Leffler and Tony Stewart.

EARNHARDT, ADIDAS ALIGN: Dale Earnhardt Jr. still doesn't have a car sponsor for his move to Hendrick Motorsports next year, but he added another personal sponsor Friday.

Two weeks after announcing an endorsement deal with Sony, Earnhardt introduced adidas as a new sponsor.

The collaboration will include a full line of Earnhardt-branded apparel and accessories, including his future racing suit and technical footwear as well as off-track footwear and fan apparel.

GINN'S EMPATHY: The paint scheme on the No. 13 Chevy of Lakeland's Joe Nemechek honors nine firefighters who died in a furniture store fire on June 18 in Charleston, S.C.

The names and ages of the firefighters are listed on the deck lid of the car, and the logo of the Charleston Fire Department appears on each side of the car.

The Sofa Super Store fire brought the worst loss of American firefighters' lives since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to firehouse.com.

"Being a South Carolina native, I wanted to let the families of the fallen victims and the Charleston community know that our race team shares in the mourning of these great American heroes," said team owner Bobby Ginn, whose Ginn Company is developing several communities in the area and sponsors an LPGA event.

Ginn also made a $20,000 donation to the firefighters' families.

HOT LAPS: There's no validity to a rumor circulating on the Internet that NASCAR is having discussions about moving the Daytona 500 to November, Daytona spokesman Andrew Booth said. "That one was way out in left field," he said. … Jeremy Mayfield and A.J. Allmendinger were among the other drivers who failed to qualify.

Tony Fabrizio