As EssentiallySports’ team felt the ground throb with energy, witnessing the high-stakes battle between 36 drivers, they wondered: “Does luck reign supreme or skills?” All of us have seen time and again that while every driver strives to win, even the most skilled cannot dominate each race. Considering several factors like tire strategy, pit-stops, and on-track incidents, we were sure that luck plays a significant role. And well, a number does not just belong to a driver, it is an entire team. So, if someone from the team is unlucky, the driver gets affected too.

But then we met Michael McDowell, Cup driver for Front Row Motorsports, and he had pretty different things to say. Our team asked McDowell about his pick for NASCAR’s lucky dog. However, despite the ever-present element of chance, McDowell insisted that luck is overrated.

Michael McDowell believes Cup drivers make their own luck

The 39-year-old, expanding on his take, opined that to compete and survive at the Cup level demands the very best from the drivers. While the path to the top tier of stock car racing may vary for each driver, he stressed that the path does not matter as much as the dedication and passion one brings to the sport. According to McDowell, when one achieves a feat, it is only the driver and their unrelenting spirit in the seat, not luck.

Hence, when NASCAR Journalist Bharat Aggarwal of EssentiallySports brought forward the topic of the ‘Lucky Dog of NASCAR,’ this is what Michael McDowell had to say: “I don’t believe too much in luck; what I mean by that is timing and preparation, right? And so when you look at certain situations you could be like, Oh man, I was really lucky, and I don’t feel that way because, like. At this level, you have to be prepared, and you earn every opportunity you get.”

He went on to highlight Ross Chastain’s growth trajectory at the Cup Series level to further support his theory. “So when you look at a guy like Ross Chastain, he was a grinder, and he just kept grinding it out. Everybody could see his talent and potential. But had he not gotten a break to sit in super-competitive cars, we wouldn’t know how good Ross Chastain is, right? And I think that goes the same for everybody.”

Now, he did agree that there is some luck at play. Yet, he quickly suggested that even that is a product of meritocracy, not lottery- that whatever luck drivers have, they created it themselves. At the same time, he also explained how he himself has managed to stay afloat at this level year after year while leveling up at the same time. “So I never feel like it’s lucky, if that makes sense. I feel like at the Cup level, everybody earns their spot.”

“I mean, I’d put myself in that category as very fortunate to get a ride after feeling like ‘oh man haven’t done enough to stay’ in the sport, you lose a job, fortunately, you get another one and it gets a little bit better, a little bit better, and then all of a sudden it’s like okay, we’re running good now and contending, so if you sit in a seat on Sunday, you should feel very fortunate all of us,” he added.

In Michael McDowell’s case, he seems to have stuck by this moral, and that has helped him elevate his racecraft and talent over the years. After multiple team changes, since his rookie season in 2008, and a lengthy seven-year stay at FRM- he is now poised to embark on a new chapter in 2025, having signed with Spire Motorsports. And we at EssentiallySports, if it’s not ironic, wish him all the luck.