“That Really Hurt”: Michael McDowell Left Wanting for More Despite Top 5 Finish at COTA

The Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas was dominated and won by 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, but it wasn’t just him who put up an impressive display in the 2.4-mile circuit. 41-year-old Michael McDowell proved that he is still a competitor worthy of performing on the big stage. Driving the No. 71 Chevy for Spire Motorsports, he finished in fifth place.

What’s astounding is that he could have potentially won the race, his true goal for the day, had it not been for an unfortunate caution that came his way. His crew chief, Travis Peterson, had drawn up several strategies to help him throughout the race. He stayed out at the end of the first stage to pick up eight stage points. He then pulled a swap and pitted before the second stage’s end.

The final trick they tried to pull came with 30 laps remaining in the race. As the race leaders pitted, Peterson asked McDowell to stay out. The expectation was that a delayed pit stop would allow them to have fresher tires against the opponents. It would have been a great plan had it not been for the loose wheel that came from Ross Chastain’s car with 21 laps remaining.

McDowell was sitting in the lead at the time, and the caution flag came out, leveling the field. He had to pit while the other drivers stayed out, and this cost him every track position he hoped to gain. While he still managed a fifth-place finish, he wasn’t very satisfied with it. He spoke to the press in the aftermath and detailed his emotions.

He said, “That killed us for sure. I don’t know the math. I don’t know how that played out. But the thing that would have played out is that we would have had better tires than everybody else. So, that would have given us an advantage to try and drive back to the field. So, when the caution came out, that really hurt. Because that put us on square ground with everybody else.”

The result was his first top-5 in the Circuit of the Americas. It is also his fourth top-5 in the last six road course races. He has firmly established himself as a top driver on the track type with this race. Notably, it took 16 races for him to secure a top-5 finish last year. He has done it in just the third race of the season this year. That is reason to be confident about what’s coming.

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