Michael McDowell was undeniably the MVP on Sunday. The 38-year-old was dominant in the #34 Mustang, leading 54 laps, the highest in its history at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Holding his own against road course specialists like Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott, McDowell had to toil to secure his only second Cup Series win.

But things weren’t always smooth sailing for the #34 team. The latest installment of NASCAR Race Hub’s Radioactive shows a more unfiltered side to McDowell’s win and a certain point in the race where he wanted help from the other drivers on the grid to keep Elliott at bay.

“Have these guys help me here”: Michael McDowell tries to fend off Chase Elliott

Elliott’s desperation is reflected in his approach to the race. Usually composed and looking for openings to capitalize on, the 2020 Cup champion looked to cut short things this time and kept pushing for a pass on McDowell. The track conditions also played in favor of the ‘Road Course King,’ who had the pace as well as the determination to win the race. But to everyone’s surprise, McDowell didn’t crumble under the pressure and marched on to the victory lane.

Following Daniel Suarez’s pitstop in the 49th lap, the #99 Chevy’s front hose was entangled underneath the left front tire, which forced an unfortunate delay for him. McDowell was the leader then and received clear instructions on his team radio.

“The #99 had a slow stop, he’s gone. It’s you versus the race track buddy.“ conveyed crew chief Travis Peterson. Elliott was coming in hot behind McDowell, ready to take the lead which was a scary prospect for the Front Row Motorsports driver. He replied with a hopeful answer, saying,

“I’m just running my pace, until I don’t have to. Have these guys help me here.” 

Peterson looked livid at the lack of support from the rest of the grid when they were in the dire need of another driver diverting Chase’s trajectory and attention by the slightest. The team was aware of the abilities of Elliott, and especially on a road course like the Brickyard.

“Got to find these spotters and get them to get the fu*k out the way. They’re not helping us enough.“ claimed a furious Peterson.

Front Row Motorsports didn’t want to give Elliott even an inch of the lead, expecting the worse outcome that was to not being able to reclaim it. Surely a fair cry for help from McDowell ad the #34 team.

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“This definitely relieves some pressure going into the next couple weeks,” said McDowell in the post-race presser, delighted with his win. He has found it tough to get a win ever since his season-opening win at Daytona two years back. But this time, he came clutch when the situation demanded the best of him. As the conference goes on, he said that the qualifying session was essential in realizing the car’s raw pace, an important factor on road courses.

“After seeing how fast my car was [on Saturday], in my mind it was a must-win, not because of the playoffs, but just because you don’t get opportunities like that in the Cup Series that often. I wasn’t so much thinking about the must-win of the playoffs, I was thinking of the must-win of you might not ever get another chance like this where your car is that good. You’d better make it count.”

Well, now that the celebrations for his win have ended, what ensued is a rat race for the final playoff sport available. Chase Elliott will be on high alert with another road course in Watkins Glen approaching next week and so will be Bubba Wallace who is trailed by another road course specialist in Suarez. Although Bubba has 542 points, which are he same as McDowell, he doesn’t have the needed win to clear his name off the radar.

With 14 race winners this season, Watkins Glen and Daytona show promise for some fireworks amid the ongoing playoff bubble battle.

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