INDIANAPOLIS — Michael McDowell knelt down at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s yard of bricks Sunday afternoon and delivered the sweetest kisses of his racing career.
The 38-year-old driver is now a Brickyard champ, as well as the member of an elite club.
McDowell took the lead in his Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford during the 53rd lap on the road course at IMS and never trailed again as he drove the most dominant race of his career. He beat Chase Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the yard of bricks start-finish line by less than a second (0.937) for his second NASCAR crown jewel victory, securing a spot in the 16-driver field for the Cup Series playoffs in the process, and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez was third in another Chevy after starting in pole position.
McDowell’s only other Cup Series win was the 2021 Daytona 500, where he snapped an 0-for-357 skid after leading at the end of a crash-marred final lap.
“That’s a big deal,” he said when asked about his second playoff appearance in three years. “When we won the Daytona 500, that was one of the coolest moments we ever had. We cherry pick the races: My family comes to the ones we think we can win, and we thought we could win this one.”