LINCOLN, Ala. – In recent years, races at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway have been viewed as wild-card events due to the unpredictability of the on-track action action. In practice, the superspeedway races aren’t necessarily that crazy and trends tend to develop over time.
A good example would be the RAD engine alliance between Richard Childress Racing, Andy Petree Racing and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the early 2000s. They dominated Daytona and Talladega because of their power.
Today, there are standout drivers at Daytona and Talladega, but their good form is mainly due to skill. One of those drivers is Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell. His only career NASCAR Cup Series victory came in last year’s Daytona 500, but he had been knocking on the door for years, even dating back to his time with Phil Parsons Racing.
“[Races at Daytona and Talladega] are a great opportunity,” McDowell told Frontstretch after the race. “Obviously, with the big pack and everyone bunched up, you have an opportunity to stay up front.”
Sunday was another example of that good form. Despite losing the draft in stage two with Austin Cindric, McDowell was able to race all the way up to a third-place finish. That marked McDowell’s third top five and fourth top 10 at Talladega. Career-wise, six of McDowell’s seven career top five finishes have come at Daytona and Talladega, along with 12 of his top 10s.
Despite the third-place finish, it was clear that McDowell thought that he could get more. He was a little disappointed with himself after the race.
“[Ryan Blaney] and I did a good job of staying hooked up and had a big run [on the final restart],” McDowell said. “I needed to back up to [Denny Hamlin] a little bit quicker than I did. At the same time, I saw [Chase Elliott] wasn’t connected and I thought, ‘Man, if I could just stay on Blaney and get one more shove, we might be able to fight for [the win]. They were just able to get connected a little bit quicker than we were and regenerate the energy.
“It’s tough. We were close to having a shot at winning the race. To come out of Talladega with a top five and a clean car is a good day. Just disappointing. This was a great opportunity for us to win, but we came up a little bit short.”
It was not just McDowell that was flying the flag for Front Row Motorsports on Sunday. Rookie Todd Gilliland inserted his…
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