Michael McDowell Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Race No. 2 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is here as the championship contenders get set to take on the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond Raceway. After a barn burner in last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington to kick off the first round of the Playoffs, the traveling circus moves north to Virginia to take on the 0.75-mile oval, which will go a long way in determining which drivers move on to the Round of 12, especially as the BristolRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Sunday’s opening stage of the Cook Out Southern 500 had chaotic moments involving NASCAR playoff drivers. One negatively impacted by the madness was Michael McDowell, the first to have a mulligan in the Round of 16. Entering the backstretch on Lap 31, McDowell went from gaining track position to losing everything in front of the competition. Consequently, his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang slammed the Turn 2 wall. It was already game over for the Daytona 500 champion as he’ll leave Darlington RacewayRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a wild weekend in Daytona to wrap up the regular season and set the 16-driver field for the Playoffs, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Cook Out Southern 500. A staple of the Cup Series since 1950, there are many elements to Darlington that make it a special track. From the egg-shape of the track that features one end narrower than the other as a result of building theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – Throughout Sunday’s Verizon 200 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the curbing in Turn 6 was a point of concern, but when a debris caution set up a late race restart, those concerns took a drastic turn for the worse. After taking a pounding from the heavy stock cars and undergoing repairs during every caution, it was only a matter of time before the compromised curbing caused a major issue and a restart with five laps remaining in regulation became the tipping point.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor While the NASCAR Xfinity Series has been making the pilgrimage to Road America since 2010, it has been more than 64 years since the NASCAR Cup Series made its lone trip to the historic road course. All of that changes Sunday when the Jockey Made in America 250 takes the green flag. One of several new venues on the 2021 Cup Series schedule, NASCAR’s best will finally get their chance to take on the 14-turn, 4.048-mile course weaving its way through the Wisconsin countryside. “Since weRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Over the 36-year lifespan of the NASCAR All-Star Race, the annual non-points exhibition has been run at a track other than Charlotte Motor Speedway only twice, but on Sunday night, that number grows as Texas Motor Speedway gets set to host the $1 million showdown for the first time. A total of 21 drivers will compete in the six-round, 100 lap event, with eligible drivers including those who won a points-paying racing in 2020 or 2021, full-time drivers that have previously won an All-Star Race, andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service You can’t call a Chase Elliott victory on a road course “unexpected,” but little else was predictable in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas road course in Austin, Texas. After all, Elliott came to COTA having won five of the previous 10 road races, and on Sunday the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix became No. 6 after NASCAR called the race 14 laps short of the scheduled finish because of excessive standing water on the track and potential dangerRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When the rain started to fall Sunday at Circuit of the Americas, the racing that came in the early laps of the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix was entertaining, but quickly devolved into chaos. A number of cars had made off-track excursions during the first stage, but as the second stage began, things took a turn for the worst as the rain piled up and visibility was reduced to nearly zero. The high-speed backstretch at COTA leading into the breaking zone at Turn 12 became calamityRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor There have been some interesting race sponsorship names in the past, but Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway certainly tops them all – and will no doubt garner many laughs along the way. A result of a contest by Busch Beer to support American farmers, fans that donated to the cause were able to put in a name for the race, which would eventually be whittled down to four finalists. The choices came down to The Busch Latte 400, Nectar of the Cobs 400,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell had a stellar third-place result in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Although the day was owned by the big three teams of Penske, Gibbs and Hendrick, McDowell held his own tremendously. As seen with his stage finishes of eighth and third, the Front Row Motorsports veteran had a fast machine. When the race came down to overtime, McDowell had a shot of getting another victory this year. Like at Daytona, he had to deal with a couple Ford driversRead More