Michael McDowell qualified in a respectable 15th place for Sunday’s race at Pocono. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
LONG POND, Penn. – For what it is worth, Michael McDowell has been the model of consistency for Front Row Motorsports.
Since joining the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang efforts in 2018, he has steadily improved his performances. Placing 26th, 27th, 23rd, 16th and 23rd in the past four seasons’ championship standings, McDowell has seven top fives and 29 top 10 finishes.
In two of the past five races at Pocono Raceway, the Phoenix native has tallied two top 10 results, including a sixth in last year’s HighPoint.com 400. From the looks of things, the 38-year-old racer seems acclimated a the 2.5-mile triangular shaped superspeedway.
Despite posting the 27th fastest time in Saturday’s practice session, McDowell managed a qualifying effort of 15th. Overall, the driver of the No. 34 Benebone Ford Mustang feels he has a workable racecar for Sunday’s 400-miler.
“We’re just a little bit off,” McDowell said. “The car’s not driving terrible. We’re just a little bit off on speed, a little bit off here and there through the tunnel and riding things. These places, Pocono and Michigan, usually kind of show where you’re at from a just overall performance and aero standpoint.
“So we’re a little bit behind where we’d hoped to be, but I feel like we’ll race fine. Our car was pretty close, so we just got a few little tweaks to make it better.”
It takes two to tango in the world of NASCAR Cup Series competition. McDowell has a solid new crew chief in Travis Peterson, his third in as many years, who has gelled with the stock car and open wheel veteran.
“Things are going good,” he said. “We’re clicking well, doing what we need to do on the racetrack. You always want to be better. You always want to have more potential and more top fives. But we’re doing what we need to do to stay in the hunt. And so we’ll just keep plugging at that.”
These days, Michael McDowell sees his stock rising much better than big companies on Wall Street. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
All in all, McDowell has been marching his way up the points standings on the strength of four top 10 results in the past six races. Climbing from 20th to 16th, it is evident that this hardworking driver and team are making a compelling case to make this year’s Playoffs.
Sure, a championship cannot be decided at Pocono Raceway. In fact, it is a ways to go before anybody can consider raising the trophy at Phoenix Raceway.
However, a great performance or win may go a long way for a driver like McDowell to make the Playoffs for a second time. With Front Row Motorsports continually building strength and confidence as an organization, it is evident that their veteran racer is also as optimistic more times than not.
Still, McDowell remains pragmatic in terms of his chances against the juggernaut racers and teams of Cup. A place like Pocono will serve up a formidable challenge between being one of the 16 drivers who chase after stock car glory or consider 2024 during the autumn of 2023.
As for Sunday’s race at Pocono, McDowell points out that a compromise may be needed with setting up the car from a mechanical and driver’s seat standpoint. Based on his keys to success at “The Tricky Triangle,” it will take mental discipline and focus just to keep on track, much less, pursuing a strong result.
“All three corners are different,” McDowell said. “So your car being good in Turns 1 and 2 probably isn’t good in 3. That’s the hard part with this place. And then the bumps in the Tunnel Turn definitely are getting progressively worse year after year. And our cars are progressively getting stiffer and stiffer every year.
“So, it’s definitely tough to get through the tunnel right now for sure. I mean, we shift everywhere now. We’re shifting at New Hampshire, too, so I don’t even know if that still applies, but it does from a hitting your marks and and doing that lap after lap for sure.”
Editor’s Note
Nathan Solomon contributed to this article on site from Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
