Michael McDowell eyes NASCAR history at Daytona Road Course
As if a win on NASCAR’s largest stage wasn’t enough for Michael McDowell last weekend in the Daytona 500, the Front Row Motorsports driver has another shot at NASCAR history Sunday at the Daytona Road Course.
A win on Sunday would make McDowell the fourth driver in Cup Series history to back up a first career win with a victory in the next points-awarding event and the first since 1964. He will start second in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253, alongside polesitter and 2020 race winner Chase Elliott.
“We feel really optimistic and confident,” McDowell said in a news release.
“But, Chase Elliott is the curve ball. He has been so fast with a huge separation from the field. Hopefully we can close the gap and put some pressure on him, and others.”
Three drivers have accomplished the feat; Dick Linder, Billy Wade and Ned Jarrett.
Linder picked up the first two of his three career wins back-to-back in 1950, capturing victories at Dayton Speedway and Hamburg Speedway.
Jarrett, a two-time series champion, won his first two Cup races in 1959 at Rambi Raceway and Southern States Fairgrounds.
Wade picked up all four of his career series wins consecutively, winning at Old Bridge Stadium, Bridgehampton Raceway, Islip Speedway and Watkins Glen International driving for Bud Moore.
Wade, who was killed in a tire test at Daytona in January of 1965, holds the record with the most consecutive wins to open a career at four.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 from the Daytona Road Course will be televised Sunday (Feb. 21) on FOX at 3 p.m. ET.
SOURCES
Legends of NASCAR
Racing-Reference.info
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.