SONOMA, Calif. — Undoubtedly, Michael McDowell put his best effort of the season together Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. He finished second, scoring his highest result since winning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course last summer.
But understandably, it was bittersweet.
Entering the 16th race of the 2024 campaign, McDowell sat 23rd in points – facing an unrealistic uphill climb to point his way into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Obviously, a win would’ve solved that problem.
“I feel like we had the speed today, which it hurts. It hurts to finish second,” McDowell said after the race. “We desperately need a win to make the playoffs, but I’m proud of the effort and proud of the speed we had, but just a little bit short.”
“A win is so important.”
After scrapping for sixth in Stage One, McDowell made his first stop of the day and ended up restarting toward the rear of the field. He picked up damage during an incident on lap 40 and had to make an unscheduled stop, but the Phoenix, Arizona native roared back through the field on fresh tires and with a vengeance.
McDowell got back to 16th at the end of Stage Two and kept pressing through a caution-free final stage. He made his final stop early in the pit cycle – lap 68 – and worked back inside the top 10.
Running fourth on the final lap, McDowell picked off Chris Buescher for third before lucking into the runner-up spot. Martin Truex Jr. ran out of fuel entering the final corner and came to a standstill just before the finish line, allowing the 39-year-old to take second uncontested.
“When we got towards the back on that restart and they piled up in the esses we just got drove into and into the barriers,” McDowell said. “That really hurt our track position because then we had to come back down pit road and fix the damage and that kind of killed our chances of restarting up front when it did cycle out. But fortunately, we had a really fast Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang.
“We were able to get about half of (the spots) back before the end of Stage Two, and then the last stage we just had to fight really hard to get track position.”
Kyle Larson ultimately won the race for his third triumph of the season.
“I was pushing pretty hard. I don’t know how much more I could have got,” McDowell explained. “I needed him to battle with (Truex) a little bit more and (Buescher) because when he came out on new tires, he was just quicker than us. I couldn’t hold him off, but I knew in the long run, we could probably balance out and have a little bit of speed.
“Our long run was our strength, so I don’t know. I have to go back and watch it, but it’s just a shame.”
McDowell’s fourth top 10 of the campaign puts him to 20th in points with 10 races remaining before the playoffs. The road-course racer at heart will get just one more chance at lefts and rights – the Chicago Street Course – in the regular season.
