Heartbreak for Iconic Driver as 2023 Could Be His Last Season in the NASCAR Cup Series

The driver currently occupying the last playoff spot in the leaderboard Michael McDowell has just given heartbreaking news. The 2021 Daytona 500 winner might be driving in his last season in the NASCAR Cup Series.

McDowell is currently in 16th position on the leaderboard and has a chance of making the playoffs for the second time in his career. He has been a full-time driver at Front Row Motorsports since 2018. However, McDowell would be out of contract at the end of the season.

Michael McDowell finds himself in a helpless situation

Michael McDowell has had a season filled with ups and downs. However, after the race in Atlanta, he found himself on the right side of the leaderboard. Nevertheless, with six races to go and a playoff spot not confirmed yet, McDowell and Front Row Motorsports need to put in a Herculean effort to be able to qualify.

McDowell found himself in another rough situation outside the leaderboard. The former race winner would be out of contract at the end of the season, and getting a contract for next year might be difficult. In a recent interview, when he was asked about his future in NASCAR, McDowell said,

“In my case, it all comes down to you only having one option. It’s not something I’ve been thinking too much about right now. The conversations I am hearing are the ones you’re hearing.

“But my plan is to keep going for Front Row. Be there for a long time and it’s not my option (laughs). I don’t get the choice. So, let’s see how it goes.”

Nevertheless, getting a fresh contract is something out of his control. But what is in his control is performing well right now, if at all the 38-year-old Arizonian wants to book his place in the playoffs.

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Can McDowell make it into the Playoffs?

Michael McDowell is the last driver to win a race for Front Row Motorsports. The Daytona 500 winner has a great chance of making it into the playoffs for the second time in his career. However, with him in the top-16 listings, staying at the top is always more difficult than reaching the top. Henceforth, McDowell admitted to standing affirmative on aggressive racing.

In a recent interview, McDowell said, “We are moving in the right direction. We’ve got seven weeks to stay there (in the playoff spots) and keep fighting hard to try and get into these playoffs. We’ve got momentum on our side.” 

Later he added, “We gotta win those races that we can. Points are possible, but we can’t lean just on that. We can’t play it safe because we aren’t fast enough to play it safe. We got to go hard every weekend and get the best result we can. No matter what our strategy is saying, we got to play aggressively” 

McDowell needs to win a race or start finishing in the front. Meanwhile, with other drivers also trying to make the cut-off, McDowell needs to prove his mettle and perform well in the remainder of the races in order to secure a contract for next year.

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