By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Sunday night’s Southern 500 kicked off a back-to-back run of crown jewel races for the Cup Series. Running 500 miles at Darlington Raceway, the series next jumps to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 25th Brickyard 400.
For Michael McDowell, he’s pretty happy to move on from Darlington to look toward Indy, a place he once pursued for the Indianapolis 500, however never running the open-wheel event.
Before looking ahead, it’s important to look back to see where McDowell is at this point in 2018. Running for Front Row Motorsports, the Ford team has become a regular name to sprout in the top 20 — not just with one car, but both.
McDowell’s 20th-place finish at Darlington marked his seventh top 20 of the year, missing out on more by finishing 21st on four occasions. Ragan has kept his side of the garage steady, too, with nine top 20s, including one on Sunday (18th).
But with McDowell, the veteran has not been the leading driver for Front Row. Though close in speed, since Bristol in the spring, McDowell has trailed Ragan in points and has struggled to jut ahead of his teammate, scoring a higher average start and finish through 25 races.
Darlington was another good night but it could have been more. The long green-flag runs brought pit stops to an all-time importance and the No. 34 team found themselves out of place at one point in the race.
“Not a perfect day, but we did OK,” McDowell said. “Our car could swing in either direction, loose and tight. But that’s kind of Darlington. We got a little off sequence on one of the cautions, but we recovered well.”
Recovering for 20th, McDowell brings retrospect to his days at Front Row and knows how top 20s are realistic goals for the team in 2018.
“It’s good to get a top-20 — actually having both Front Row cars in the top 20,” he said. “We’re happy to get a good finish for Love’s Travel Stops and hopefully we’ll get some momentum back.”
Moving toward Indy, McDowell has run the Brickyard event eight times and finished a highest of 18th in 2017. That same race he contended for a top five following a spark of attrition and pit strategy. That, however, ended with a late restart accident and a top-20 run.
https://twitter.com/Mc_Driver/status/1036462208740470785
https://twitter.com/Mc_Driver/status/1036946374745567238
List of 20th-Place Finishers So Far in 2018
Daytona: Gray Gaulding
Atlanta: Alex Bowman
Las Vegas: Trevor Bayne
ISM: Trevor Bayne (2)
Auto Club: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Martinsville: William Byron
Texas: Gray Gaulding(2)
Bristol: Landon Cassill
Richmond: Ty Dillon
Talladega: DJ Kennington
Dover: Chris Buescher
Kansas: Michael McDowell
Charlotte: Kasey Kahne
Pocono: Clint Bowyer
Michigan: Jimmie Johnson
Sonoma: Kasey Kahne(2)
Chicagoland: William Byron(2)
Daytona: Trevor Bayne(3)
Kentucky: William Byron(3)
New Hampshire: Chris Buescher(2)
Pocono: Jamie McMurray
Watkins Glen: Chris Buescher (3)
Michigan: Chris Buescher (4)
Bristol: Kyle Busch
Darlington: Michael McDowell (2)
Mid-Pack With Zach: Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports
By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Each week, Kickin’ The Tires will highlight the 20th-place finisher from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Standing as the middleman in weekends with 40-car fields, there is sure to be a story behind each one.
Sunday night’s Southern 500 kicked off a back-to-back run of crown jewel races for the Cup Series. Running 500 miles at Darlington Raceway, the series next jumps to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 25th Brickyard 400.
For Michael McDowell, he’s pretty happy to move on from Darlington to look toward Indy, a place he once pursued for the Indianapolis 500, however never running the open-wheel event.
Before looking ahead, it’s important to look back to see where McDowell is at this point in 2018. Running for Front Row Motorsports, the Ford team has become a regular name to sprout in the top 20 — not just with one car, but both.
McDowell’s 20th-place finish at Darlington marked his seventh top 20 of the year, missing out on more by finishing 21st on four occasions. Ragan has kept his side of the garage steady, too, with nine top 20s, including one on Sunday (18th).
But with McDowell, the veteran has not been the leading driver for Front Row. Though close in speed, since Bristol in the spring, McDowell has trailed Ragan in points and has struggled to jut ahead of his teammate, scoring a higher average start and finish through 25 races.
Darlington was another good night but it could have been more. The long green-flag runs brought pit stops to an all-time importance and the No. 34 team found themselves out of place at one point in the race.
“Not a perfect day, but we did OK,” McDowell said. “Our car could swing in either direction, loose and tight. But that’s kind of Darlington. We got a little off sequence on one of the cautions, but we recovered well.”
Recovering for 20th, McDowell brings retrospect to his days at Front Row and knows how top 20s are realistic goals for the team in 2018.
“It’s good to get a top-20 — actually having both Front Row cars in the top 20,” he said. “We’re happy to get a good finish for Love’s Travel Stops and hopefully we’ll get some momentum back.”
Moving toward Indy, McDowell has run the Brickyard event eight times and finished a highest of 18th in 2017. That same race he contended for a top five following a spark of attrition and pit strategy. That, however, ended with a late restart accident and a top-20 run.
https://twitter.com/Mc_Driver/status/1036462208740470785
https://twitter.com/Mc_Driver/status/1036946374745567238
List of 20th-Place Finishers So Far in 2018
Daytona: Gray Gaulding
Atlanta: Alex Bowman
Las Vegas: Trevor Bayne
ISM: Trevor Bayne (2)
Auto Club: Darrell Wallace Jr.
Martinsville: William Byron
Texas: Gray Gaulding(2)
Bristol: Landon Cassill
Richmond: Ty Dillon
Talladega: DJ Kennington
Dover: Chris Buescher
Kansas: Michael McDowell
Charlotte: Kasey Kahne
Pocono: Clint Bowyer
Michigan: Jimmie Johnson
Sonoma: Kasey Kahne(2)
Chicagoland: William Byron(2)
Daytona: Trevor Bayne(3)
Kentucky: William Byron(3)
New Hampshire: Chris Buescher(2)
Pocono: Jamie McMurray
Watkins Glen: Chris Buescher (3)
Michigan: Chris Buescher (4)
Bristol: Kyle Busch
Darlington: Michael McDowell (2)