Michael McDowell: Indy win shows how ‘strong our team is’
To say Michael McDowell’s victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course was dominant may be an understatement.
McDowell captured a stage victory and earned 59 of 60 points. For the first time in his career, he also led the most laps in a NASCAR Cup Series race. He led 54 laps, which is also the most he has led in a NASCAR Cup Series race.
The Front Row Motorsports driver announced last week he would be back with the team in 2024. Now, he has a playoff berth for the second time in the last three seasons.
“I think it just shows how strong our team is,” McDowell said of his Verizon 200 at the Brickyard win. “It’s one thing if you’re restarting sixth here on a green-white-checkered, you fire it in there and you steal a win. That’s not what we did today.
“What we did today is we had the fastest car and we won. I think it says a lot for our race team and what we have been able to do and what we’ve been able to build on.”
McDowell earned his second career victory in the series and his first since the 2021 Daytona 500.
Of the 204 drivers to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, McDowell is the latest and also the 141th different driver to score multiple wins.
“Winning in the Cup Series is so hard, you just never know,” McDowell said. “It was definitely special today.
“I mean, this is special. Indianapolis is special. Even the kissing the bricks, and I got a ring — you only get rings for certain races. I got the two best rings you can get.”
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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.