NASCAR RETURNS
Glendale’s McDowell still hoping for first NASCAR victory as Series resumes
Michael McDowell of Glendale and fellow NASCAR drivers are ready to get back behind the wheel this weekend at Darlington Raceway.
ANASCAR driver’s best friend is his race car, and like every other driver in Cup series Glendale’s Michael McDowell hasn’t been able to get behind the wheel of his No. 34 Ford Mustang in 10 long weeks, let alone get even close enough to see it. ❚ Talk about separation anxiety in the world of COVID-19. ❚ That all finally changes on Sunday in Darlington, S.C., when NASCAR returns with its first live racing event since the FanShield 500 in Phoenix back in March. McDowell finished 16th for Front Row Motorsports, but he’s hoping for better results in NASCAR’s grand reopening at Darlington Raceway. ❚ Sunday’s race is the first in a redesigned, jam-packed schedule for the month of May. It features five races crammed into just 15 days, which includes a night race at Darlington on Wednesday, another Sunday-Wednesday format the following week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the Kansas 400 at Kansas Speedway on May 31. ❚ “Oh man, I’m ready to go,” McDowell said Wednesday by phone. “It’s going to be a little different, we all know that, but I can’t wait to get back after it. I mean, we really haven’t been doing anything, so this is going to be great. Let’s jump in the car and go racing.”
It will be different, all right. Because of ongoing pandemic safety measures, there will be no qualifying and no practice laps. Pole position and the starting grid will be determined by a random draw from charter teams based on their respective spots in the point standings.
With the drivers and their crews basically having to start things off with a complete dry run, it figures to make for some exciting racing at a place like Darlington. The track was tough enough to tame already thanks to its tricky banks and angles, which often forces drivers into regular run-ins with the wall.
“Darlington, just by herself, is a challenge,” McDowell said. “You just run right against the wall and it’s super-fast now. They call it ‘The Lady in Black’ for a reason; it’s definitely something that’s not an easy racetrack. So, to unload and kind of cold turkey-jump it to the race is definitely going to be tough.
“But we all know what we’ve got to do and we all know it’s a long race and you’ve got to get to that first competition caution at Lap 30 and get an opportunity to work on your stuff and hit a little bit of a re-set mentally and figure out what you’ve got to do.”
However it plays out, it’s going to be far more thrilling than sitting behind a simulator, pretending to do the real thing in NASCAR’s virtual iRacing series. McDowell hasn’t been too shabby with the joy stick, as he finished tied for 19th in the standings after seven virtual races. He did run into some unavoidable trouble his last time out this past week, however.
“Yeah, I was running top 5 at North Wilkesboro and having a good race and then the internet went out,” McDowell said, laughing. “I don’t know, too many people in the neighborhood jumped online at the same time or something. But that was it. That was the end of my race.”
The string of virtual racing helped to keep NASCAR fans engaged and it served as a useful tool for drivers as well, McDowell said. He also benefited from racing low-to-the-ground shifter karts for fun at the track he owns just outside of Charlotte. But nothing can replace the real thing, which is why he’s so glad to jump back into his fire suit, throw on his helmet and buckle up for some harddriving live action.
“The virtual racing had its spot and it was fun and the technology was amazing, but it’s not the real thing,” McDowell said. “You don’t get the sensation of the speed and the G-forces and the heat and the smell and the adrenaline rush you get by driving into a corner at 200 mph and hoping it sticks. You don’t get to hit the re-set and when you hit something, it actually hurts.”
The compacted race schedule, all to be run in front of no spectators, makes for another challenge altogether. The physical toll shouldn’t be too much for drivers to handle, McDowell said, considering they’ve all stayed in shape during the shutdown and continue to work out regularly.
“The hydration standpoint, though, could be tough because you just don’t have as much time to re-hydrate,” he said. “That’s definitely going to be an issue, especially with having the Coca-Cola 600 in that mix (May 24 at Charlotte). It’s one of the longest, most grueling races that we do, so that’s something you’re going to have to recover quickly from.
“But at the same time, we’re all professionals and we know what we have to do. We’re all ready to make sure we give our teams and ourselves the best opportunities to have success. So, you’re working through it with your nutrition and your training and your hydration and we’re ready to go.”
McDowell, 35, has been racing in the
Cup Series for 13 years now, and although he’s made strides the past few seasons, he’s still in search of that ever-elusive first series win. It’s been 325 races to date and he still hasn’t pulled into victory lane. Maybe this year’s strange stopand-start season will offer a breakthrough.
“It’s definitely been a challenging journey, my NASCAR career,” he said. “I came in with a lot of high hopes that I’d win championships and races; it just hasn’t worked out like I thought it would. I haven’t had the greatest opportunities at times to get into equipment that could win every weekend, but we’ve been making steady progress and every few years it’s gotten a little better and a little better.
“I’ve grown as a driver and with teams and with Front Row Motorsports, this is the best opportunity I’ve had to win races. There’s certain tracks we definitely look at as opportunity races, but every weekend when I head to the race track, I think about, ‘This is it. This is the weekend where everything comes together, and we get our first win.’
“I still have that drive and the fire to do it and hopefully this will be the year, and this will be the opportunity to make it happen.”