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SPORTS
Glendale native Michael McDowell bringing NASCAR playoff into Vegas
(AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
Michael McDowell steers through Turn 4 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023, in Concord, North Carolina.
Posted
TO WATCH
What: South Point 400
Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
When: Sunday, Oct. 15
On TV: 11:30 a.m. NBC
Independent Newsmedia
Glendale native Michael McDowell and the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang team continue to chase history.
The team is in a battle with Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Kevin Harvick for 13th in points in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race and takes the battle to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend.
Sunday’s 400-mile race is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on NBC.
“We’re ready for Vegas,” McDowell shared in a press release. “We’re racing tough teams and drivers in the points. Every race we need to execute and continue to gain on these guys.”
After Charlotte, McDowell and the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang team return to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking to climb into the top-15 or even higher in the championship.
He is still 16th in points, but only four points out of 15th and 11 points away from 14th. He is 33 points out of 13th, but it is all attainable before the season ends.
McDowell has a career best finish of 17th in Las Vegas.
“We are heading into Vegas with the mindset that we’re going to get this done and get a top-10,” crew chief Travis Peterson stated. “There are only a few races left and we want to make the most of them. We want to go for as many points and move up the standings. We want to end on a historical note.”
McDowell came from out of nowhere to win the Daytona 500 in 2021. NASCAR itself named him one of the 10 biggest surprise winners in Daytona history.
“McDowell had yet to win a Cup race in 357 starts prior to the 2021 Daytona 500,” wrote NASCAR’s Zack Albert, who compiled the list. “That all changed on Feb. 14, when the driver of the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford avoided a last-lap wreck and grabbed the checkered flag — leading only the final lap to nab the victory.”
His earliest racing came in north Glendale as a kid.
“Friday and Saturday nights during the summer, practicing and racing at PKRA (Phoenix Kart Racing Association),” he told the Independent of the track located at 22500 43rd Ave. E, when asked about his favorite memories growing up in Glendale. “It was a fun time in life, racing with my family and our friends. It was a great community out there and it was a special time.”
McDowell calls ISM Raceway, at 7602 Jimmie Johnson Drive in Avondale, his home track.
