Michael McDowell leaves Texas with heartbreak

FORT WORTH – Michael McDowell was painfully close to his third career NASCAR Cup Series win Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Instead, he left with just pain. 

McDowell brought his No. 71 car home 26th in the Würth 400, wrecking out with three laps to go.

McDowell was outlasted by the hard-charging Joey Logano after trying to stop him with an incredibly aggressive block down the backstretch. 

After failing to keep Logano’s No. 22 car behind him, Ryan Blaney also passed McDowell. His wake led to the No. 71 car getting tight and crashing.

“When (Ryan) Blaney slid in front of me, it just took the air off of it and I just lost the back of it,” McDowell said. “I still had the fight in me, but I probably should have conceded at that point.

“Just proud of everyone at Spire Motorsports. I know that’s not the day that we wanted, but we had the opportunity to win the race.”

It wasn’t a big points day for McDowell, but did finish ninth in stage one. McDowell could look back at Texas as “what could have been,” as he will very likely require a win to get his way into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. While it’s not impossible to point his way in, he sits 26 points behind the cutline. 

His best chance for a win will likely be Atlanta or Daytona, or perhaps a one of the many road courses still to come during the regular season. McDowell is running at a similar pace to his teammate Carson Hocevar, who has just five points more on the season than McDowell and has run well on a variety of other tracks which could bode well for McDowell if the Texas pace can translate.

McDowell was involved in some drama at the end of the second stage. Ricky Stenhouse Jr was upset with how McDowell raced Stenhouse for 24th at the end of the stage, and showed his displeasure by running into him under caution following the stage. 

The NASCAR Cup Series now heads to Kansas for the AdventHealth 400. The green flag is set to fly at 3 p.m. ET next Sunday.