By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Michael McDowell did everything he could do in the final laps of the Daytona 500 but fell short of the victory by finishing fifth.
On the final lap of the race, it was McDowell with Ford teammate Joey Logano versus the Toyota conglomerate of Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Although Logano was there, McDowell chose not to work with him.
“I would have loved to work with Joey, but he was moving left to right,” McDowell said. “The 18 (Ky. Busch) had a big run, a lot of momentum and Joey had a lot of damage. The back of his car was completely smashed, no rear bumper, a parachute hanging out of it. Joey wasn’t gonna win the race. I wanted to put myself in the best spot to win the race and the Fords weren’t that friendly to me this weekend.”
After the race on pit road, Logano met McDowell to hash out their differing opinions on the final lap. McDowell chose the best drafting partner to propel him for potential victory.
“I just told him that my team doesn’t pay me to push Joey Logano to a win,” he said. “That’s not what I get paid to do. At 200 miles an hour I made a split-second decision on what was the fastest car and who had the best shot of winning the race and that’s where I went.”
In post-race, McDowell alluded that Ford Performance teammates were not that kind to him throughout the entire race which is part of his frustration.
“That is what is so frustrating because you have guys that are like, ‘why didn’t you go with me?’ Well because every time I am in the front, you shook me out. What makes you think I am going to push you to a win when you leave me high and dry the whole entire day?” he continued.
With the purse money at Daytona being one of the highest in the sport, a top-five finish helps a smaller organization like Front Row Motorsports tremendously.
“I think for a small team it’s awesome,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it, but I’d be lying to you all if I told you I was over the moon excited. I’ve been in the Cup Series over 10 years now. I have one goal and one goal only and that’s to get a win.
“I was close to getting there tonight or at least had a shot at it and wasn’t able to get it done at the end. I’m happy with the finish. I’m proud of the team, but that wasn’t the goal.”
With a brand-new aero package debuting next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, McDowell hopes to carry the momentum from Daytona throughout the season.