February 16, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Michael McDowell enjoys riding the wave of success into Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Michael McDowell doesn’t feel like an underdog—especially entering the Great American Race as the defending winner. 

After posting the fastest time in opening practice on Tuesday night, McDowell proved that last year’s performance wasn’t merely a fluke. Yet with all the unknowns entering the 64th annual Daytona 500—particularly with the introduction of the Next Gen car and speedway competition in general—the race could take on a very different complexion come Sunday. 

Regardless of the outcome, McDowell can always celebrate having his name on the Harley J. Earl trophy.  

“The significance of this race and the history of it, it just has more meaning than just your average NASCAR race,” McDowell said. “They are all important and they all have significance, but if there is one you are going to win, this is the one. It is special. 

“It is cool to know that regardless of what happens this weekend or what happens this year, you always have that Daytona 500 victory, and being a Daytona 500 champion is pretty special.”

The 37-year-old racer kicks off his sixth full season in Cup, his fifth season with Front Row Motorsports, and his 15th year on the NASCAR tour. When the Bob Jenkins-owned team won its’ first Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway in 2013 with David Ragan, the ‘David vs Goliath’ analogies came naturally. Three years later, Chris Buescher scored a win for the organization in a rain-shortened Pocono race. 

Following a five-year drought, McDowell earned his breakthrough victory in the 2021 Daytona 500. FRM’s third Cup win came in the company's 1,151st start with McDowell behind the wheel.

But it was a game-changer for an organization that was considering alternative opportunities than running two Cup teams in 2022. 

“The value last year for our partners was significant just because of the amount of eyeballs watching the Daytona 500 and also, beyond that, all the highlights and all the social engagement and all the commercials that NASCAR is running previewing,” McDowell said. “Like when Fox switched to NBC it had our win on that commercial. All those tidbits really add up to a lot at the end of the year in terms of exposure value and TV viewership for our partners. 

“That was a huge thing. Not that it was unexpected but I didn’t realize how much value that added. We have more races sold on the 34 car this year than we ever have. From a sponsorship standpoint, it has helped significantly.”

Funding is the lifeblood of any race team. Money buys speed but personnel can elevate an operation to the next level.

“The legitimacy of the race team and getting really quality people to come to Front Row as employees to help us grow the program helped a tremendous amount by running well and winning the Daytona 500,” McDowell said. “I think that five or six years ago we had a harder time getting people to buy in to sort of the mission and the vision at Front Row, especially if they are already at a big four or big five-race team. 

“Now it is a little easier to see that we can do it and we have the ability to do it and that is a great place for people to achieve some of their goals that they wouldn’t get to achieve otherwise.”

McDowell credits Jenkins and general manager Jerry Freeze with methodically mapping out FRM’s course. He doesn't expect change overnight but has noticed gradual improvements during his running the No. 34 Ford. McDowell was a top-30 car when he joined Front Row. In 2020, he broke the top 25 in the standings and last year advanced to the Playoffs with his Daytona 500 win.

“It has been getting three or four spots better on average every year with how we perform,” McDowell said. That is hard to do in our sport. That is tough to go from running low 20’s to running in the teens. When you are running teens in the Cup Series, you are beating the big teams consistently—at least one or two of their cars, not all of their cars. 

“It has been a journey and a process.”

Entering Speedweek at Daytona, McDowell is reminded that racing can be fun—especially when you’re the defending winner of the Great American Race. But like any driver, McDowell wants more.

“It is awesome,” McDowell said. “It really is. The last few weeks with getting ready for the 500 and all the media and all the preseason stuff, it is fun. It is fun being the Daytona 500 champion coming to Daytona. It has been a cool experience. I feel like there are times in the season last year where, not like you forget, but you just get back into the grind and things aren’t going all that great and you are kind of riding that season wave. 

“Then in the off-season, and getting ready for this, it was a lot of fun because everyone wants to talk about winning the Daytona 500 and it brings back a lot of great memories. At the same time, we are focused on this year and trying to kick our season off right and go back-to-back if we can. It is a lot of fun. It has been a cool couple of weeks getting ready for this.”