The zeal to win is rising with every NASCAR race. While this is immensely entertaining for fans, racers are now taking it to the next level with their gutsy and courageous moves. Fans were watching with bated breath as Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell were locked in an intense battle. The prize? Progress in track position. The upcoming playoffs have racers in a state of urgency and nervousness.
While many racers had been disadvantaged by the rain on Saturday, Michael McDowell to a chance to encash it. On Saturday, the Front Row Motorsports racer bagged his first top-five rank of the 2023 season. The rain can really be a blessing in NASCAR at times. Despite an intense wreck with Ty Gibbs, McDowell could take up the 4th rank in the race. Most of the credit for this win goes to a gutsy decision made by McDowell at just the right time. In a post-race interview given by McDowell, he elaborates further.
Michael McDowell knows the strategy even before the race starts
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McDowell and his crew, primarily member Travis Peterson, were brave enough to forego pitting and skip the pit road for stage 2. McDowell kept moving towards the front in an effort to lead the laps. He had previously been involved in a wreck with Martin Truex Jr. However, as the race had to be shortened abruptly due to the onset of rain, McDowell got declared in fourth position. This had been their plan all along.
“Yeah yeah Travis did a great job, you know. We were joking before the race. I was giving him a hard time. I was like, ‘Hey, you understand that you want to be leading when it rains right? Like, that’s the strategy,'” stated McDowell. He took a pretty calculated risk, which eventually led him to rank in the top 5.
“….you know with that damage early on, on pit road we lost a little bit track position so we had to be gutsy. We had to go for it. We knew the rain was coming or he knew the raiin was coming. The spot that we’re in right now scoring some staging points we need a win we need to get in, you got to go for it.” It was thus this urgency for earning some points at the perfect time when the rain was about to start that drove him.
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McDowell is unfazed by the intense clash
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In the initial laps of the race, McDowell’s car had come in contact with Martin Truex Jr. This had led to extensive damage to his right front bender. However, McDowell isn’t really concerned about his car. “I didn’t get to see the damage. So I don’t know how bad it was but I felt like the guys did a good job repairing it because I didn’t notice too much on track. I’m sure it’s a little draggy out front there in clean air but tucked up behind somebody I was fine,” said McDowell. Apart from a slightly affected balance, the vehicle seemed quite alright to him. Trevor Peterson, his crew chief, did quite an impressive repair job at the pit while also making sure that McDowell didn’t miss out on staging points, in both the stages.
Watch this Story: Near fatal crash that ended 1983 Cup champ’s career – ‘Wish I had died’.
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While the contact with Truex Jr.’s car did not leave as fatal a mark as Ty Gibbs’s car did in the same match, the clash was quite impactful. Atlanta seems to be a race that made everyone think big, for neither Ross Chastain nor Michael McDowell is bothered about the clashes they were in. Will New Hampshire Motor Speedway witness the same bout of courage this Saturday? Fans can’t wait to find out.
