Pocono DNF Creates Tougher Playoff Road For McDowell

Michael McDowell's crew services his Chevrolet on pit road at Pocono Raceway prior to a brake failure and eventual DNF. (Rusty Jones/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

LONG POND, Pa. – Even when he’s had hard moments in his career and things might not be going his way in the moment, Michael McDowell still exemplifies hope amid adversity.

He and Spire Motorsports are carrying that quality fully after a spoiled Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

McDowell endured a brake failure in stage two on lap 75, which led to a subsequent tire issue and ultimately ended the 40-year-old’s Great American Getaway 400 early after he saw time in the top 10.

It left McDowell a disheartening 35th in the final results.

“I had a warning half of the race that the brakes weren’t going to make it. It’s unfortunate. It wasn’t what we needed for this No. 71 Gainbridge Chevrolet team. We came off a good weekend in Mexico City, and this is the exact opposite of what we needed,” said McDowell.

McDowell noted he was trying to nurse the car back to pit road after he started to lose his brake pedal. But he added there wasn’t much he could do besides adjust the brake bias and hope for the best.

Prior to bowing out of the race, McDowell had driven himself from 28th up inside the top 10.

“I had made a mistake in qualifying on Saturday, and that kind of sets you up for the whole race starting 28th. We did some strategy there and we were going to give ourselves a fighting chance,” McDowell explained. “I knew we had an issue with the brakes, and I was trying to get to a place where hopefully they would last, but they didn’t.

“But we have Atlanta, Chicago and Sonoma coming up, so we have a lot of good tracks on the horizon for our team. The season is grueling sometimes.”

There have been a few  “almost had it” moments that McDowell has endured during his first season at Spire Motorsports. The Glendale, Ariz., native was fifth in Mexico City and has come close to winning at times.

However, when you only have two top 10s to go along with your first top five of the season that came two weeks ago, the margin for error becomes all but nonexistent.

Granted, there is speed in the Spire camp, as showcased by teammate Carson Hocevar many weeks recently. McDowell has shown flashes, like his almost heroic win at Texas Motor Speedway in April, but there have been lows, like his nine finishes of 20th or worse in 17 races.

“Winning has always been the mindset. I’ve been saying all year that I’m not planning on pointing my way into the playoffs, I’m planning on winning a race because that’s the way I see us getting into the postseason,” said McDowell.

“You’re going to have weekends like this where you have issues, you get taken out or you have something happen. You can’t always plan on pointing your way in.”

At Pocono, despite what was looking like a strong day, McDowell continued his streak of not finishing inside the top 15 at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ for three consecutive years.

McDowell entered the weekend 16th in the overall points holding the final playoff spot, but due to the DNF, he fell five spots back to 21st overall. He only sits 22 points back of the spot he just gave up.

But, as mentioned by the veteran driver, there are a lot of wild card tracks ahead that fall into his favor.

Superspeedway racing and road courses make up five out of the last nine races before the postseason. Those types of racing are where McDowell has made a career at the Cup Series level for himself.

McDowell has an average finish of fourth at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway since 2022, and an average of sixth at the Chicago (Ill.) Street Course all coming up in July. Furthermore, at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), he has one top five and two top 10s since the reconfiguration.

“There’s still a lot of opportunities for guys below the cutline to win, as we saw in Mexico City with Shane van Gisbergen. When you have places like Atlanta, Chicago, Sonoma, (and) Daytona, you’ve got a lot of tracks that could open it up for a new winner, like we even saw with Harrison Burton last year,” McDowell said.

“In the last few years, there’s been a few surprise winners, and we are looking to join that list.”

Coverage of the Quaker State 400 from Atlanta begins Saturday night, June 28 at 7 p.m. ET, live on TNT, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.