Michael McDowell Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Like a Michael Jordan drive to the basket, Tyler Reddick channeled his 23XI Racing co-owner on the final lap at Talladega, weaving his way through the chaos to get to the finish line first and score the win in Sunday’s GEICO 500. Heading into the final lap, it was shaping up to be a battle of the Fords and Toyotas, with pole-sitter Michael McDowell and six-time Talladega winner Brad Keselowski leading the Blue Ovals on the bottom lane, with Reddick leading what wasRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Michael McDowell has been a force to be reckoned with in qualifying on superspeedways this season and he was back at it again at Talladega, banking his second pole position of the season. With a lap of 52.609 seconds, 182.022 mph, McDowell put his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford on the front row for the third time on a superspeedway in 2024. For teams like Front Row and drivers like McDowell, Talladega is one race that they circle as an opportunity andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. — There were so many variables in Christopher Bell’s victory in Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway that it’s difficult to pinpoint the determinative factor. First, Toyota introduced a new body style in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. Second, NASCAR debuted a new short-track competition package in Sunday’s race. Third, the Toyotas unloaded for Friday’s 50-minute practice with consistent speed—allowing them to test their long-run prowess. That combination of factors conjured up a decisive victory for Bell at a trackRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. — It was a race of remarkable ebb and flow. It was race of breathtaking four-wide action into corners not built to accommodate such derring-do. And it was totally appropriate that Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway would end in a three-wide photo finish, with Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez eking out a victory over Ryan Blaney by what looked to be an inch or two at the finish line. NASCAR timing and scoring showed Suárez aheadRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Michael McDowell and Joey Logano performed their own version of “Trading Places” during NASCAR Cup Series time trials on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. After finishing second to Logano in qualifying for the season-opening DAYTONA 500, McDowell will start his 467th Cup race from a position he has never occupied before—first on the grid—with Logano beside him in second. Having won the first Busch Light Pole Award of his career, McDowell will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Ambetter HealthRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Rain, rain, go away. The 66th running of the Daytona 500 will have to wait 24 hours after inclement weather that has had a stranglehold on the Daytona Beach are for the majority of the weekend will not be relenting anytime soon, forcing NASCAR to postpone the race to a 4:00 pm ET start on Monday. The Daytona 500 postponement joins the NASCAR Xfinity Series race that had already been moved from Saturday to Monday, setting up a doubleheader to kick offRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If the Toyota teams had any doubts about its new NASCAR Cup Series body for the 2024 season, those fears appear to have been put to rest over the past two days at Daytona International Speedway. After an abysmal showing in qualifying Wednesday night that Toyota officials described as “disturbing,” things turned around in a big way once its teams got into the draft on Thursday night, sweeping both of the Bluegreen Duels qualifying races and then claiming the top eight spotsRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –The start of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series is officially here and with it comes the biggest race of the season – the Daytona 500. For 66 years, drivers have been making the pilgrimage to the Daytona high banks to win the sport’s most prestigious race and write themselves into the record book as Daytona 500 champion. Many have attempted it, but only a select few have been able to hoist the Harley J. Earl trophy in victory lane at the end ofRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Ford has struck the first blow of Speedweeks. Despite rolling into Daytona with the unknown of its new Mustang Dark Horse body for 2024, the Blue Oval brigade will have the best seat in the house to start Sunday’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 after Joey Logano and Michael McDowell locked out the front row in pole qualifying on Wednesday night. Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 champion and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, powered his No. 22 Team Penske Ford around the 2.5-mile superspeedway inRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway was not kind to former NASCAR Cup Series champions, with defending champion Joey Logano and 2014 champion Kevin Harvick among those eliminated in the first round of the Playoffs. Both drivers started the Bass Pro Shops Night Race with points advantages over the cut-off line, as Logano sat 12-points up and Harvick sat in the 12th and final transfer spot just seven points ahead of elimination. In the end, those slim margins weren’t enough to save either of them. Logano’sRead More