Michael McDowell Kicks off 2018 with Sixth Top-10 Finish of Career

Michael McDowell started off his 11th year in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on a high note with his sixth top-ten of his career. McDowell brought home a ninth place finish after starting 22nd. The strong showing was all through the race with the ending having a slight bit of luck on his side.

“It’s great,” McDowell said after we asked about the strong run in his first race of the season with his new team. “I feel like we picked off right where I left off last year. Top 10’s at Daytona, running up front, and hopefully, we can continue that throughout the year and build momentum. We know we have a long road ahead of us. We are still a medium size team, I don’t want to say smaller team because we have two cars with 60 people. I really feel like there is a lot of room for growth and a great group of people at Front Row Motorsports that are giving us the tools to run well.”

McDowell earned stage points in both of the in-race stages which ultimately sits him sixth in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points. As the race wound down, McDowell found himself a lap down but a crash involving many of the leaders allowed McDowell to land back on the lead lap. He had to avoid the No. 10 of Aric Almirola which stopped some of his momentum.

“It was a wild finish for sure,” McDowell told The Motorsports News Source following the Daytona 500. “I’m not really sure what happened to the 10, I just know that he came way up the race track head first and I was in the third lane and lost a little bit of my momentum there and a few spots. I think we were in a position to earn a top five but all in all a great run for everyone on the Love’s Travel Stops Ford. We scored points in all three stages and came out of here with a top ten in the Daytona 500 isn’t a bad result.” (Koelle,2018)

Photo Credit - Jonathan McCoy/The Motorsports News Source and Rubbings Racing