Michael McDowell (racing driver)

Michael Christopher McDowell (born December 21, 1984)[1] is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 34 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports.

This article is about the American racing driver. For the English racing driver, see Mike MacDowel.

Michael McDowell
McDowell at the 2018 Can-Am 500
Born	Michael Christopher McDowell (1984-12-21) December 21, 1984 Glendale, Arizona
Achievements	2004 Star Mazda Championship Champion
Awards	2007 ARCA Re/MAX Series Rookie of the Year 2003 Star Mazda Championship Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
344 races run over 13 years
Car no., team	No. 34 (Front Row Motorsports)
2019 position	27th
Best finish	26th (2017, 2018)
First race	2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500 (Martinsville)
Last race	2020 Go Bowling 235 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 11 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
94 races run over 9 years
2016 position	93rd
Best finish	13th (2009)
First race	2007 O'Reilly Challenge (Texas)
Last race	2016 Road America 180 (Road America)
First win	2016 Road America 180 (Road America)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 20 2
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career
2 races run over 2 years
2009 position	111th
Best finish	111th (2009)
First race	2007 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Last race	2009 Heluva Good! 200 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
Champ Car career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish	21st (2005)
First race	2005 Lexmark Indy 300 (Surfers Paradise)
Last race	2005 Gran Premio Telmex Tecate (Mexico City)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0
Statistics current as of August 16, 2020.

Early career

McDowell started out his career at the age of three racing BMX bicycles. He would always win his division because there were not any other three- or four-year-olds to compete against. At the start of each race, someone would have to hold him in the starting gate because his feet did not reach the ground. Then, when McDowell was eight years old, he moved to karting with help from his mother Tracy, his father Bill, and his older brother Billy, who were all avid race fans. After ten years in karts, he would win not only the World Karting Association championship, but he would also take back to back undefeated International Kart Federation championships, along with 18 consecutive feature wins.

Open wheel

From karts McDowell moved into Formula Renault with World Speed Motorsports in 2002 and won the Infineon Raceway, Las Vegas, and Firebird International Raceway events in his rookies season. Moving up the ladder, Michael would move to the Star Mazda Series in 2003. He took victories at Sebring and Road America en route to a runner-up finish in the points. McDowell won seven races in 2004 en route to winning the series championship. McDowell would be picked up by Champ Car team Rocketsports for Surfer's Paradise and Mexico City, but decided to move on in 2005 to the Grand-Am Cup Series.

Grand-Am

During his run for the Star Mazda championship, Michael would meet businessman Rob Finlay at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, where McDowell was an instructor. McDowell and Finlay soon established a partnership, and McDowell would drive his first sports car, a Porsche 996 in the Grand-Am Cup Series for Finlay Motorsports. In 2005, Michael would stay at Finlay, but moved up to the Rolex Sports Car Series, joining veteran Memo Gidley in a BMW powered Riley sponsored by the Make A Wish Foundation. Together, they finished sixth in the overall points and took the team's first victory at Mexico City. McDowell made history by becoming the youngest driver to stand on podium for a Grand-Am race at Barber Motorsports Park, and became the first driver since Mario Andretti to compete in both an open wheel race and a sports car race in the same weekend. Michael would also drive the team's No. 60 BMW M3 in the Grand-Am Cup series to a podium finish at Daytona International Speedway. McDowell would stick with Finlay for 2006, and was again partnered with Gidley. The duo would improve to fourth in points despite being winless. Michael would also drive a No. 15 Ford Mustang with owner Finlay, driving the car to a win at Barber Motorsports Park. He would cap off his Grand-Am year with a second-place finish at Miller Motorsports Park.

McDowell returned to the series for the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona, driving for Michael Shank Racing with drivers Jorge Goncalvez, Felipe Nasr, and Gastavo Yacamán. The four drivers would end up finishing third.[2][3]

ARCA

ARCA RE/MAX Series owner Eddie Sharp would put McDowell behind the wheel of his No. 2 Dodge for five races of the 2006 season, starting with the Governor's Cup 200 at the Milwaukee Mile, where he scored a 34th-place finish. McDowell finished in sixth place at Salem, fifth at Talladega, and fourth at Iowa. Michael would return to ESR to run the full schedule for Rookie of the Year honors in 2007. McDowell was involved in controversy at Toledo Speedway when his ESR teammate, Ken Butler III spun him late in the race. Butler would take his first win while McDowell would rally for a top ten finish. Michael got his first stock car win at Kentucky Speedway. He followed that up with wins at Pocono, Chicagoland, and the season finale at Toledo. Although Michael was in contention for the ARCA Re/Max Series championship all season, he was unable to pose a serious threat to Frank Kimmel for Kimmel's ninth championship. Michael would score a second-place finish in the points along with Rookie of the Year honors, as well as scoring nine pole positions during the season. As McDowell moved to NASCAR, his ESR ride was taken over by former Formula One driver Scott Speed.

NASCAR

2007–2008

McDowell would make his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series. Driving the No. 17 for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, McDowell would qualify 29th and finish 30th after a late wreck. McDowell moved to the Busch Series as a developmental driver for Nextel Cup Series team Michael Waltrip Racing. Driving the No. 00 Toyota, McDowell drove at Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead, finishing respectively 20th, 14th, and 32nd.

McDowell was chosen to drive the No. 00 Cup Series car in 2008 after Dale Jarrett's retirement; David Reutimann replaced Jarrett in the No. 44 UPS-sponsored car. McDowell started 34th and finished 26th in his Sprint Cup debut, the Goody's Cool Orange 500, after a flat tire near the end of the race. After the race, he was criticized by veteran driver Jeff Burton for having blocked Burton's way to leader Denny Hamlin near the end of the race (McDowell was racing for the Lucky Dog free pass, which Burton did not realize at the time of his comments). In early August 2008, McDowell was pulled from the No. 00 Toyota Camry Sprint Cup car in favor of veteran NASCAR driver Mike Skinner for three races. Skinner helped evaluate the team's progress, while trying to get the No. 00 into the Top 35 in owner points, though McDowell returned to the ride at Richmond on September 6, 2008. McDowell was again pulled from the No. 00 Toyota Camry when he failed to qualify for the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas on September 28. McDowell's contract was not renewed by MWR for 2009, when Michael Waltrip decided not to retire and the team did not have a sponsorship for another car.

Crash at Texas Motor Speedway

Panorama of McDowell's crash in sequence at Texas Motor Speedway

McDowell's car on the tow truck after the crash

While performing a qualifying attempt for the 2008 Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 4, 2008, McDowell had an accident that was strikingly similar to that of another racer with a road-racing background; Gordon Smiley (who died in a crash during Indianapolis 500 time trials in 1982). McDowell's right front sway bar broke entering Turn 1, which caused the car to hit the SAFER barrier almost head on at approximately 185 miles per hour (298 km/h), according to data obtained and reported by SPEED channel (185 mph to zero mph in one foot, as reported by SPEED's Bob Dillner, before accelerating in the other direction). The car spun around once while tipping onto its roof, and then barrel-rolled eight times with fire coming out of the engine compartment, shedding debris in all directions, until coming to a stop back onto its tires.[4] A large, dark impact mark was seen on the SAFER barrier, which showed how hard the car hit the barrier, which had to be repaired (the barrier moved inward when the car hit it), and as a result, qualifying for the race was delayed by an hour. The safety features of the barrier, the HANS device and the Car of Tomorrow racecar protected him.[4] Because of this, he walked away from the crash without injury, and waved to the stunned crowd.[4] Since his old car was destroyed, he had to switch to a backup car, and ended up starting at the rear of the field in the race.

2009

McDowell's 2009 No. 47 Nationwide car

In 2009, McDowell drove a part-time schedule for JTG Daugherty Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. On February 25, 2009 McDowell's first child, Trace Christopher, was born, named after Michael's late mother, Tracy. The baby boy was 7 pounds, 7 ounces and born at 7:00 a.m. McDowell next attempted the April 2009 race at Talladega for Prism Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series, as regular driver Dave Blaney had a family obligation. After JTG Daugherty Racing ran out of sponsorship support after the second race at Daytona International Speedway, it was announced that he would drive the next two races for MacDonald Motorsports. He also competed several races with Tommy Baldwin Racing in the No. 36 Toyota Camry. McDowell remained in the top 10 for most of the season. McDowell also competed in the Camping World Truck Series in 2009 for ThorSport Motorsports driving the No. 98 Chevy Silverado.

2010–2011

In 2010, McDowell started the season for Prism Motorsports. He drove the No. 55 car, then moved to the No. 46 team of Whitney Motorsports. In 2011, McDowell drove the No. 66 Toyota for HP Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. JGR also added the Bucyrus 200 at Road America to McDowell's schedule, leaving open the possibility of more races added. McDowell also drove one race for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series at Texas after NASCAR parked Kyle Busch following his actions at a Truck Series event.

2012–2013

McDowell's 2013 Sprint Cup car

In 2012, McDowell ran the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Nationwide Series car in select races, and competed in the Sprint Cup Series for Phil Parsons Racing (formerly HP Racing) full-time; the team secured full sponsorship for the first five races of the season.[5] It formed a partnership with Whitney Motorsports and Mike Curb to field McDowell's car, which carried the No. 98.[6]

In the 2013 Daytona 500, McDowell recorded a then-career high 9th-place finish.[7] Later in the season in the Nationwide Series, McDowell won the pole for the inaugural Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio.[8] McDowell finished 2nd behind A. J. Allmendinger.[9]

2014

In October 2013, it was announced that McDowell would be moving to Leavine Family Racing's No. 95 Ford for the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.[10] McDowell failed to qualify for the 2014 Daytona 500.[11] McDowell had a Sprint Cup career-best seventh-place finish in the Coke Zero 400.[12]

In the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, on lap 64, Greg Biffle came up on Ryan Newman's front bumper, turning him into the outside retaining wall. His car ricocheted off the wall into McDowell's path, and with the force of the impact, the rear end housing was snapped, causing him to get airborne. His housing was then forced into the wall. The race was red-flagged, though both drivers were unharmed.

2015–2016

McDowell racing during his first NASCAR win at Road America

McDowell returned to the LFR No. 95 car for a 20-race schedule in 2015. The team merged with Circle Sport in 2016 and switched to Chevrolet, with McDowell splitting the schedule with Ty Dillon with sponsorship from Thrivent Financial, Cheerios, and WRL Contractors among others.[13] The season started with McDowell placing 15th in the 2016 Daytona 500, a best for LFR in the Great American Race. McDowell was able to get a 10th-place finish in the 2016 Coke Zero 400, his best finish of the season so far. At the end of the season at Homestead, McDowell drove the No. 59 Chevrolet after CSLFR purchased a charter from the closing Tommy Baldwin Racing. McDowell ran decent all night and towards the end, he was able to avoid the big wreck involving Championship contender Carl Edwards, and was able to get a 10th-place finish, his first non restrictor plate top 10 finish.

McDowell drove for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet in a one-race deal at Road America which got McDowell his first NASCAR victory. McDowell led the final 24 laps en route to the win.

2017

McDowell's No. 95 at Dover International Speedway in 2017

McDowell returned to Leavine Family Racing's No. 95 Chevrolet in 2017. He started the season with a 15th-place finish in the Daytona 500. At Kansas, McDowell scored a season-best 13th-place finish. At Dover, McDowell scored his third straight top-20 finish, a career first, when he finished 19th upon avoiding a last-lap crash. At Daytona for the Coke Zero 400, McDowell spent most of race towards the front and competed late for the win, as he was in second place on the last lap before ending the race with a career-best 4th-place finish, his first career top-five finish. It was also the best finishing result for Leavine Family Racing as a team.

McDowell completed 99 percent of the laps in 2017, the most among any full-time driver in the Cup Series that season, and finished a career-best 26th in the standings. It would be his final season with LFR.

2018

On September 19, 2017, Leavine announced Kasey Kahne would be replacing McDowell in the No. 95 car for the 2018 season.[14] On November 24, 2017, Front Row Motorsports announced that McDowell would drive their No. 34 car full-time in 2018, replacing Landon Cassill.[15] In the first race of the season, McDowell raced up front late and finished 9th in the 2018 Daytona 500, his fifth straight top-15 finish at Daytona (and third top ten in the last four races at the track) and tied his career-best finish in the race. McDowell would have a strong run in the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 leading 20 laps, a career best, and would finish second in stage 2 behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Unfortunately with 7 laps to go McDowell would crash out of the race and finish 26th. McDowell would later tie his best finish in the cup series points standings of 26th after leading laps at his final race of the season in Homestead.

2019

McDowell practicing at Pocono in 2019

In 2019, McDowell returned to the No. 34 car for Front Row Motorsports. McDowell’s loyal sponsor K-Love Radio took a year long break from being a primary sponsor of his car. In the 2019 Daytona 500, the first race of the season, he qualified in 34th and finished in 5th, which would become his career-best finish in the Daytona 500 as well as his second best finish in a Monster Energy Cup Series race. After the race, 2018 champion Joey Logano confronted McDowell for not helping him win the Daytona 500, in which McDowell stated, "My team doesn't pay me to push you."[16] During qualifying for the 2019 TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway, McDowell had an on-track incident with Daniel Suárez, which resulted in a fight on pit road.[17] Two days prior to the 2019 Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, McDowell was rushed to the hospital after complaining of abdominal failure. He was cleared to race after passing kidney stones during examination.[18] McDowell would go on to run up front in the 1000bulbs.com 500 at Talladega SuperSpeedway, and even had a chance to win the race being in third place on the final lap of the race, and would finish 5th, capturing his second top 5 of 2019, the first time he would have multiple top 5s in a single cup series season in his career.

2020

On December 12, 2019, Front Row Motorsports announced that McDowell will return to the No. 34 for the 2020 season.[19] McDowell started the year off with a 14th place finish in the 2020 Daytona 500, his fifth consecutive top 15 in the Daytona 500 and his 8th top 15 in his last 9 Daytona races. McDowell would go on to qualify 3rd for the second Charlotte race due to the random draw and McDowell has boomed onto the scene since coming off of NASCAR’s break. McDowell would capture an 8th place finish at Pocono and following a DNF, a 7th place finish at Indianapolis, marking the first time in his career he’s earned two top 10s two weeks in a row. McDowell has set a career best for most top 15s in a season in just 16 races with 6, and has finished higher than his qualifying efforts 15 of his 20 starts. In his first 20 starts, McDowell has more lead lap finishes than the likes of Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Jimmie Johnson, William Byron, Alex Bowman, and Ryan Blaney, finishing on the lead lap 15 of the 20 races this season. McDowell currently sits 20th in the standings after 20 starts and is potentially looking to be a dark horse driver for the 2020 NASCAR playoffs.

Personal life

McDowell is married to Jami and they have four children, Trace, Emma, Rylie, and Lucas.[20]

McDowell and Justin Marks currently own a karting facility called the GoPro Motorplex, located 30 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina. The facility opened in October 2012 and is inspired by another karting track located in Parma, Italy.[21]

Images

• 
  McDowell in 2008
• 
  2010 Nationwide car
• 
  Racing at Road America in 2011
• 
  McDowell in 2011
• 
  McDowell at Road America in 2012
• 
  McDowell at Road America in 2013
• 
  McDowell at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2015
• 
  McDowell at Road America in 2016

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel series

(key)

Champ Car

Champ Car results
Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Rank	Points	Ref
2005	Rocketsports Racing	LBH	MTY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	EDM	SJO	DEN	MTL	LVS	SRF 12	MXC 11	21st	19	[22]

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NCSC	Pts	Ref
2008	Michael Waltrip Racing	00	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR 26	TEX 33	PHO 34	TAL 26	RCH 40	DAR 28	CLT 32	DOV 30	POC 27	MCH 37	SON 21	NHA 42	DAY 25	CHI 43	IND 34	POC 24	GLN 25	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH 20	NHA 27	DOV 29	KAN DNQ	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	40th	1466	[23]
2009	Prism Motorsports	66	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL DNQ	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL												52nd	326	[24]
	Tommy Baldwin Racing	36	Toyota																										RCH 41	NHA 41	DOV 38	KAN DNQ	CAL 40	CLT DNQ	MAR 41	TAL	TEX 41	PHO 41	HOM 43
2010	Prism Motorsports	55	Toyota	DAY 33	CAL 42	LVS 42	ATL 42	BRI	MAR 43				RCH DNQ	DAR 40	DOV 42	CLT 42	POC 39	MCH	SON	NHA 41	DAY DNQ	CHI DNQ	IND 42	POC 43	GLN 42	MCH 42	BRI 43													45th	870	[25]
		66								PHO 43	TEX 41	TAL
	Whitney Motorsports	46	Chevy																									ATL 39				KAN 40	CAL 39	CLT 39	MAR DNQ	TAL 35	TEX DNQ	PHO DNQ	HOM DNQ
			Dodge																										RCH DNQ	NHA 43	DOV 39
2011	HP Racing	66	Toyota	DAY DNQ	PHO 41	LVS 41	BRI 43	CAL 43	MAR 32	TEX 40	TAL DNQ	RCH 40	DAR 43	DOV 43	CLT 39	KAN 41	POC 41	MCH 43	SON 30	DAY 42	KEN 41	NHA 40	IND 37	POC	GLN 41	MCH	BRI 39	ATL 41	RCH 39	CHI 43	NHA 37	DOV 40	KAN 39	CLT 39	TAL 40	MAR 39	TEX QL^†	PHO 40	HOM 43	36th	139	[26]
	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota																																		TEX 33
2012	Phil Parsons Racing	98	Ford	DAY 30	PHO 43	LVS 38	BRI 31	CAL 38	MAR 40	TEX 41	KAN 40	RCH 39	TAL 43	DAR DNQ	CLT 36	DOV 42	POC 34	MCH 38	SON	KEN 38	DAY 43	NHA 40	IND DNQ	POC	GLN 37	MCH	BRI 23	ATL DNQ	RCH 41	CHI 43	NHA 37	DOV 38	TAL 31	CLT 31	KAN 43	MAR 39	TEX 38	PHO 38	HOM 41	37th	187	[27]
2013				DAY 9	PHO	LVS 43	BRI 42	CAL 42	MAR 43	TEX 43	KAN 42	RCH 41	TAL 21	DAR 42	CLT 42	DOV 42	POC 40	MCH 42	SON	KEN 38	DAY 42	NHA 42	IND 32	POC 40			BRI 41	ATL 42	RCH 43	CHI 43		DOV 43	KAN 38	CLT 40	TAL 15	MAR 26	TEX 43	PHO 32	HOM 43	37th	210	[28]
	Front Row Motorsports	35	Ford																						GLN 38	MCH
	Phoenix Racing	51	Chevy																												NHA 30
2014	Leavine Family Racing	95	Ford	DAY DNQ	PHO 33	LVS 43	BRI 37	CAL	MAR 37	TEX 30	DAR	RCH DNQ	TAL 36	KAN	CLT 30	DOV	POC	MCH	SON 24	KEN	DAY 7	NHA	IND 26	POC	GLN 42	MCH	BRI 18	ATL DNQ	RCH	CHI 32	NHA	DOV	KAN 35	CLT 29	TAL 41	MAR	TEX 30	PHO 31	HOM 21	37th	255	[29]
2015				DAY 31	ATL 27	LVS 30	PHO	CAL	MAR	TEX 31	BRI 22	RCH	TAL DNQ	KAN 36	CLT 30	DOV	POC	MCH	SON 34	DAY DNQ	KEN DNQ	NHA	IND 31	POC	GLN 20	MCH	BRI 31	DAR	RCH 42	CHI DNQ	NHA	DOV	CLT 31	KAN	TAL 28	MAR	TEX 34	PHO	HOM 33	39th	213	[30]
2016	Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing	59	Chevy	DAY 15																																			HOM 10	30th	500	[31]
		95			ATL 33	LVS 29	PHO 26	CAL 31	MAR 24	TEX	BRI 29	RCH 31	TAL 21	KAN 28	DOV 20	CLT 34	POC	MCH	SON 39	DAY 10	KEN	NHA 39	IND 23	POC 23	GLN 17	BRI 19	MCH 31	DAR 27	RCH 12	CHI 37	NHA 26	DOV	CLT 14	KAN 22	TAL 16	MAR 18	TEX 23	PHO 34
2017	Leavine Family Racing			DAY 15	ATL 29	LVS 18	PHO 24	CAL 33	MAR 26	TEX 23	BRI 26	RCH 29	TAL 34	KAN 13	CLT 19	DOV 19	POC 24	MCH 23	SON 14	DAY 4	KEN 23	NHA 26	IND 18	POC 18	GLN 12	MCH 27	BRI 20	DAR 19	RCH 16	CHI 30	NHA 23	DOV 27	CLT 35	TAL 30	KAN 18	MAR 19	TEX 21	PHO 22	HOM 24	26th	542	[32]
2018	Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	DAY 9	ATL 24	LVS 37	PHO 32	CAL 26	MAR 21	TEX 14	BRI 38	RCH 31	TAL 32	DOV 22	KAN 20	CLT 18	POC 21	MCH 25	SON 21	CHI 21	DAY 26	KEN 24	NHA 26	POC 16	GLN 18	MCH 25	BRI 37	DAR 20	IND 17	LVS 29	RCH 24	CLT 18	DOV 26	TAL 40	KAN 27	MAR 25	TEX 29	PHO 16	HOM 28	26th	493	[33]
2019				DAY 5	ATL 37	LVS 30	PHO 36	CAL 24	MAR 31	TEX 15	BRI 28	RCH 36	TAL 40	DOV 24	KAN 26	CLT 22	POC 20	MCH 27	SON 25	CHI 20	DAY 13	KEN 25	NHA 17	POC 25	GLN 16	MCH 22	BRI 37	DAR 38	IND 17	LVS 24	RCH 21	CLT 12	DOV 24	TAL 5	KAN 24	MAR 23	TEX 25	PHO 30	HOM 26	27th	485	[34]
2020				DAY 14	LVS 36	CAL 22	PHO 16	DAR 23	DAR 17	CLT 18	CLT 25	BRI 14	ATL 24	MAR 14	HOM 15	TAL 18	POC 8	POC 40	IND 7	KEN 24	TEX 15	KAN 16	NHA 19	MCH 29	MCH 28	DAY 10	DOV	DOV	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	CLT	KAN	TEX	MAR	PHO	-*	-*	[35]
^† – Qualified but replaced by Josh Wise

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2010	Prism Motorsports	Toyota	29	33
2011	HP Racing		DNQ
2012	Phil Parsons Racing	Ford	11	30
2013			38	9
2014	Leavine Family Racing	Ford	DNQ
2015			23	31
2016	Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	39	15
2017	Leavine Family Racing		22	15
2018	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	22	9
2019			34	5
2020			26	14

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2007	Michael Waltrip Racing	00	Toyota	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX 20	PHO 14	HOM 32	94th	291	[36]
2008				DAY 27	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV													112th	119	[37]
	MSRP Motorsports	91	Chevy																								GLN 42	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM
2009	JTG Daugherty Racing	47	Toyota	DAY 14	CAL 36	LVS 6	BRI 31	TEX 17	NSH 15	PHO 11	TAL 15	RCH 8	DAR 33	CLT 20	DOV 11	NSH 8	KEN 29	MLW 14	NHA 15	DAY 13												KAN 39							13th	3449	[38]
	MacDonald Motorsports	81	Dodge																		CHI 25	GTY 32	IRP 28
	Whitney Motorsports	26	Dodge																					IOW 8	GLN 27	MCH 17	BRI 10			RCH 19			CAL 38
		96																										CGV 11	ATL 35		DOV 29	KAN DNQ		CLT 23	MEM 21	TEX 29	PHO 25	HOM
2010	MacDonald Motorsports	81	Dodge	DAY 24	CAL 21	LVS 39	BRI 18	NSH 37	PHO 18	TEX 26	TAL 23	RCH 29	DAR 19	DOV 30	CLT 20	NSH 30	KEN 28	ROA 33	NHA 20	DAY 35	CHI 35	GTY DNQ	IRP 20	IOW 13	GLN 10	MCH 28	BRI 20	CGV 37	ATL 27	RCH 37	DOV 28	KAN 19	CAL 18	CLT 26	GTY 30	TEX 36	PHO 26	HOM DNQ	21st	2770	[39]
2011	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	TAL	NSH	RCH	DAR	DOV	IOW 7	CLT	CHI	MCH	ROA 12	DAY	KEN	NHA	NSH	IRP 10	IOW 9	GLN	CGV 3	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM		106th	0^1	[40]
2012				DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW 3	CLT	DOV		ROA 2	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW 6	GLN	CGV 6	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN									111th	0^1	[41]
		20														MCH 7
	SR² Motorsports	00	Toyota																												DOV 40	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM
2013		27		DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI 40	CAL 36																															100th	0^1	[42]
		00							TEX DNQ	RCH 22	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	IOW	MCH										BRI DNQ	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT
	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota														ROA 34	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH 2
	TriStar Motorsports	10	Toyota																															TEX 40	PHO
		91																																		HOM 40
2014	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	IOW 7	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW 2	GLN	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI										87th	0^1	[43]
	Team Penske	22	Ford																											KEN 8	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM
2016	Richard Childress Racing	2	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	IOW	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA 1*	DAR	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM			93rd	0^1	[44]

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2007	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	17	Toyota	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	LOW	MFD	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	GTW	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR 30	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	117th	0	[45]
2009	ThorSport Racing	98	Chevy	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	CHI	IOW	GTW	NHA 14	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	111th	0	[46]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2006	Hixson Motorsports	2	Dodge	DAY	NSH	SLM	WIN	KEN	TOL	POC	MCH	KAN	KEN	BLN	POC	GTW	NSH	MCH	ISF	MIL 34	TOL	DSF					40th	965	[47]
	Eddie Sharp Racing																						CHI 38	SLM 6	TAL 5	IOW 4
2007				DAY 10	USA 18	NSH 33	SLM 3	KAN 11	WIN 22*	KEN 39	TOL 7*	IOW 2	POC 6		BLN 2*	KEN 1*	POC 1	NSH 19	ISF 2	MIL 4	GTW 3*	DSF 36	CHI 1*	SLM 3	TAL 33	TOL 1*	2nd	5455	[48]
			Toyota											MCH 8

24 Hours of Daytona

(key)

24 Hours of Daytona results
Year	Class	No	Team	Car	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
2005	DP	19	Ten Motorsports	BMW Riley DP	Memo Gidley Michael Valiante Jonathan Bomarito	465	42	19
2006	DP	19	Playboy/Uniden Racing	Ford Crawford DP	Memo Gidley Alex Barron	716	6	6
2007	DP	19	Finlay Motorsports	Ford Crawford DP	Rob Finlay Michael Valiante Bobby Labonte	627	10 ^DNF	10 ^DNF
2008	DP	09	Spirit of Daytona Racing	Porsche Fabcar DP	Guy Cosmo Marc-Antoine Camirand	652	15	10
2011	DP	6	Michael Shank Racing	Ford Dallara DP	A. J. Allmendinger Justin Wilson	719	7	7
2012	DP	6	Michael Shank Racing	Ford Dallara DP	Jorge Goncalvez Felipe Nasr Gustavo Yacamán	761	3	3

References

1. "Michael McDowell Career Statistics - Racing-Reference.info".
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2012-02-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. "01/29/2012 race: Rolex 24 at Daytona (GA) - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
4. New car proved it works, but NASCAR can't rest Archived 2008-04-07 at the Wayback Machine; April 4, 2008; Jeff Hammond; Fox Sports; Retrieved April 4, 2008
5. Warren, Lee (January 18, 2012). "Michael McDowell Has Promising Opportunities in 2012". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
6. "McDowell gets full-time ride with Parsons team". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. February 15, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
7. Wackerlin, Jeff (2013-02-25). "McDowell, Yeley Shine at Daytona". Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on 2013-04-01. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
8. Miller, Rusty (2013-08-17). "McDowell on pole for Nationwide race at Mid-Ohio". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2013-08-17.
9. "Nationwide Children's Hospital 200". NASCAR. 2013-08-17.
10. "McDowell gets 2014 Cup ride with Leavine". Yahoo! Sports. October 28, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-28.
11. "Daytona Qualifying and Starting Lineup". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
12. "2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Daytona".
13. "NASCAR MEDIA TOUR DAY 3: Ty Dillon, Michael McDowell to split time in 95 car". WDBJ. January 21, 2016. Archived from the original on January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
14. Mayer, Matthew (September 19, 2017). "NASCAR playoff driver Kasey Kahne to drive for Leavine Family Racing in 2018". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
15. "Michael McDowell will replace Landon Cassill at Front Row Motorsports". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
16. "Help a Ford buddy out: Joey Logano 'surprised' Michael McDowell didn't push him at the end of Daytona 500". Autoweek. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
17. DeCola, Pat (March 8, 2019). "Suarez, McDowell get physical on pit road during qualifying". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
18. Page, Scott (September 27, 2019). "Michael McDowell taken to hospital with abdominal pain UPDATE: cleared to race". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
19. Page, Scott (December 12, 2019). "Front Row Motorsports fielding two cars in 2020 with Michael McDowell and John Hunter Nemecheck". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
20. "Michael McDowell - Official Site of Front Row Motorsports". Front Row Motorsports. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
21. Gluck, Jeff (June 20, 2013). "NASCAR drivers flock to kart track, racer's Disneyland". USA Today. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
22. "Michael McDowell – 2005 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
23. "Michael McDowell – 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
24. "Michael McDowell – 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
25. "Michael McDowell – 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
26. "Michael McDowell – 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
27. "Michael McDowell – 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
28. "Michael McDowell – 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
29. "Michael McDowell – 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
30. "Michael McDowell – 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
31. "Michael McDowell – 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
32. "Michael McDowell – 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
33. "Michael McDowell – 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
34. "Michael McDowell – 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
35. "Michael McDowell – 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
36. "Michael McDowell – 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
37. "Michael McDowell – 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
38. "Michael McDowell – 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
39. "Michael McDowell – 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
40. "Michael McDowell – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
41. "Michael McDowell – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
42. "Michael McDowell – 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
43. "Michael McDowell – 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
44. "Michael McDowell – 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
45. "Michael McDowell – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
46. "Michael McDowell – 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
47. "Michael McDowell – 2006 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
48. "Michael McDowell – 2007 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 16, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Michael McDowell driver statistics at Racing-Reference

Sporting positions
Preceded by Luis Schiavo	Star Mazda Championship Champion 2004	Succeeded by Raphael Matos