By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Though the night ended in the 11th position, Michael McDowell found some stable ground in Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel No. 2 at Daytona International Speedway.
In his first race for Front Row Motorsports since 2013, the 33-year-old jumped from 12th starting spot to rally into the top five at an early stage, putting his No. 34 Ford in some tricky spots to feel what it had for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
“I was hoping we’d finish a few spots better than that but we just got shuffled out at the end,” McDowell told Kickin’ The Tires. “The beginning of the run was good, just got really tight as the run went on.”
Perhaps the conditions were too tricky, as McDowell had his hands full in the middle of three-wide racing off Turn 4. The Arizona native hopes to make improvements in the next two days of practice sessions leading into Sunday.
“We’re definitely going to have to work on this Ford a little bit,” he said. “The only thing is — the air can really mess you up. I saw the No. 17 get to spin a few guys out, I experienced a little of that with the No. 78 behind us. Obviously going to be a lot more cars in the 500.”
Despite the handling uncertainties, the experienced plate racer in McDowell knows a good car when he sees one.
“The car has good speed, we just need to be better on the longer runs,” he said. “It was good practice for the 500 to see how you can make moves and how to be aggressive to make things happen. It’s good information and that’s what I wanted to do today.”
“Everybody [at Front Row] is getting to know each other, learn each other’s styles. I just feel it’s a good warm-up to get ready for Sunday.”