As 37 NASCAR Cup Series competitors prepare for Sunday’s Grant Park 220 on the streets of Chicago, the closest piece of data the majority of drivers have to utilize is previous road course races.
For Michael McDowell, his time driving open-wheel cars early in his career may prove to be more beneficial than he ever imagined.
McDowell’s lone street course start in CART came in 2005 at Surfers Paradise in Australia, where he finished 12th, most notably ahead of two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Will Power and 2003 CART champion Paul Tracy.
Other drivers with street course experience heading into Chicago include three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen, A.J. Allmendinger, Formula 1 world champion Jensen Button, Austin Cindric and Andy Lally.
While he doesn’t have oodles of street racing under his belt, McDowell believes the combination of his open-wheel background and Front Row Motorsports’ road course program will be highly beneficial this weekend.
“I think this one is a little bit higher for us. Our road course program is solid – we’ve seen that over the last year and a half with this Next Gen car,” McDowell said. “But I think going to a new course that nobody has any experience on – tricky and challenging – it’s going to play into the hands of guys that have done races like this, and that adapt quickly.”
The majority of the drivers competing may be at a slight disadvantage as they head into the unknown during Saturday’s practice session, but McDowell understands regardless of the situation, every competitor will be prepared to tackle the challenging 2.2-mile course.
“We are talking about the best drivers in the world, so they’re going to figure it out really fast,” McDowell said. “I don’t think I have an advantage.
“I just feel like my comfort level is a bit higher than the majority of the guys that haven’t seen a street course before. We think about this race as a race we need to go and win to get into the playoffs. So, that’s what we’re focused on.”
That escalated pressure to win is for good reason. McDowell and his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team have been lights-out on road courses since the Next Gen car was introduced last season.
In eight road course races since the beginning of last year, the 38-year-old has an average finish of 10.5. He’s finished eighth or better in five of those races.
Behind McDowell’s surge on road courses inside the cockpit is his understanding of when to be aggressive and when to save his equipment.
According to McDowell, Sunday’s race will come down to a more calculated approach instead of the typical ultra-aggressive mindset.
“If you look at our style of road racing, for sure, it’s super aggressive wheel-to-wheel. But, we always have a lot of run-off and areas that have a lot of forgiveness,” McDowell said. “So, turn one at Indy: You bury it down in there, because there’s an oval, grass, access routes.
“But, when there’s a 90-degree (corner) with a concrete barrier, you’re going to think twice about burying it down in there. It’s just the reality of it.
“Calculated aggression is going to be what wins this race, and I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of what we typically see on our road courses – in particular, on the starts and restarts.”