Good Guys Do Finish First - Michael McDowell and FRM Win at Indianapolis

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With one of the top road racers in NASCAR breathing down his neck, Michael McDowell stayed cool, calm, and collected. McDowell held off Chase Elliott on a last lap charge to score the win in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield road course.

Chase Elliott finished in second, with pole sitter Daniel Suarez in third, Tyler Reddick in fourth, and Alex Bowman in fifth.

Story to be updated soon.

McDowell held the lead in what became a non-stop race, with the only caution coming on lap two.  As McDowell and Elliott raced through lapped traffic, McDowell was able to pull out to almost a four second advantage at one point.  On the last circuit around the 2.439 mile, 14-turn raceway, Elliott chopped the lead to less than half a second.

But with the checkered flag in the air, McDowell held the measure over Elliott as he flashed across the yard of bricks at the finish line for the win.

The veteran driver’s comfortable victory for Front Row Motorsports on Sunday on the IMS road course in the Verizon 200 sealed his spot in this fall’s 10-race playoff stretch, one week after having surrendered the final spot in the 16-entry field to rookie Ty Gibbs by three points with three races to go. The 38-year-old became the 13th driver in the full-time Cup series field to have won a race this season, earning an automatic bid into the postseason field. With only two races to go, at least one driver will make the playoff field on points, meaning McDowell can rest easier in the final two weeks of the regular season at Watkins Glen and Daytona.

“It’s a dream come true,” said McDowell post-race, whose first win of his Cup career came in the 2021 Daytona 500, where he was unable to celebrate with his wife and family because they weren't able to get to the race. “I’m just so thankful to everybody at Front Row Motorsports. These guys gave me everything. We had the fastest car. I’m so thankful still to be grinding it out in the Cup series, and to put on a performance like this, I don’t know if that was dominant, but it seemed dominant to me.”

Somewhat because of NASCAR officials’ moving of the restart zone on the 2.439-mile road course back between Turns 12 and 13, allowing the field to spread out before the often-calamitous 90-degree Turn 1 that’s one of NASCAR’s heaviest braking zones on the calendar, the 39-car field made it through Lap 1 clean.

They wouldn’t make it through two, as Joey Logano took too much curb in Turn 6 and slid over into the right side of Justin Haley, sending the No. 31 hurtling toward the tire barrier. Haley kept his car moving, but NASCAR threw the yellow for the repairs needed to the barrier.

After four laps of caution, McDowell maneuvered his way into the lead past the race’s polesitter, Daniel Suarez – who started the day one spot back of McDowell in the points race (18^th), just five back of Gibbs and only two back of McDowell.

It was obvious that McDowell, Elliott, and Suarez had the fastest cars from almost the beginning, and they finished that way.Now, Elliott can "chase that for that win and ticket to the playoffs next week at Watkins Glen and Suarez can go for the win, but one thing is certain.  Michael McDowell is in the playoffs.  

(Editor’s note: This shows Austin Cindric in 14th and William Byron in 15th place but other preliminary feeds show their positions reversed, as stated on the race broadcast.)

Verizon 200 at the Brickyard: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, August 13, 2023
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Status, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts
1) 4, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Horizon Hobby Ford, 82, 1, 2, 59, Running, 3, 54, 6
2) 3, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 82, 3, 5, 49, Running, 1, 1, 
3) 1, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway.com Chevrolet, 82, 2, 3, 51, Running, 2, 6, 
4) 2, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 SiriusXM Radio Toyota, 82, 4, 7, 44, Running, , , 
5) 9, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 82, 8, 8, 38, Running, , , 
6) 13, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 82, , 9, 33, Running, , , 
7) 12, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 82, 10, , 31, Running, , , 
8) 6, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 82, 5, 10, 36, Running, , , 
9) 7, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem/PSC Industries-Johns Manville Toyota, 82, 7, , 32, Running, 2, 11, 
10) 8, Shane Van Gisbergen *(i), No. 91 Enhance Health Chevrolet, 82, 9, , 0, Running, 1, 1, 
11) 17, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Castrol Edge Ford, 82, , , 26, Running, , , 
12) 10, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 82, , , 25, Running, , , 
13) 16, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Atlas Ford, 81, , , 24, Running, , , 
14) 20, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 81, , , 23, Running, , , 
15) 39, William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, 81, , , 22, Running, , , 
16) 27, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Cowboy Channel Chevrolet, 81, , , 21, Running, 1, 1, 
17) 21, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 81, , , 20, Running, , , 
18) 19, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 MoneyLion Toyota, 81, , , 19, Running, , , 
19) 25, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota, 81, , 1, 28, Running, 1, 8, 1
20) 22, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Socios.com Ford, 81, , 4, 24, Running, , , 
21) 24, Harrison Burton, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, 81, , , 16, Running, , , 
22) 11, * Brodie Kostecki, No. 33 Mobile X Chevrolet, 81, , , 15, Running, , , 
23) 38, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 81, , , 14, Running, , , 
24) 37, Mike Rockenfeller, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet, 81, , , 13, Running, , , 
25) 34, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Frosted Flakes Chevrolet, 81, , , 12, Running, , , 
26) 26, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Dyna-Gro Seed Chevrolet, 81, , , 11, Running, , , 
27) 35, Ty Dillon, No. 77 Raze Tea Chevrolet, 81, , , 10, Running, , , 
28) 31, Jenson Button, No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford, 81, , , 9, Running, , , 
29) 14, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 81, , , 8, Running, , , 
30) 29, Andy Lally, No. 51 Camping World Ford, 81, , , 7, Running, , , 
31) 32, Josh Bilicki(i), No. 78 Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, 80, , , 0, Running, , , 
32) 30, Ryan Preece, No. 41 Purdue University Ford, 80, , , 5, Running, , , 
33) 28, Kamui Kobayashi *(i), No. 67 Toyota Genuine Parts Toyota, 80, , , 0, Running, , , 
34) 18, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 80, , , 3, Running, , , 
35) 36, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, 80, , , 2, Running, , , 
36) 33, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Ford Ford, 79, , , 1, Running, , , 
37) 5, Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet, 79, 6, 6, 11, Running, , , 
38) 23, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 gener8tor Skills Ford, 79, , , 1, Running, , , 
39) 15, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 79, , , 1, Running, , ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 82 Laps, 199.998 Miles
Time of Race: 2:09:58
Average Speed: 91.360 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.937 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 34, 99, 9, 45, 5, 8, 20, 48, 91, 19
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 34, 99, 6, 9, 8, 45, 48, 14, 5

Comments: Michael McDowell has won the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, his second career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 33 (backup car) and No. 24 (multiple inspection failures).

Cautions: 1 for 3 laps;
Laps: 3-5 (No. 31 Incident Turn 6 [None]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers;
D. Suarez 1-5;
M. McDowell 6-16;
C. Elliott 17;
C. Bell 18-26;
A. Dillon 27;
D. Hamlin 28-35;
M. McDowell 36-48;
D. Suarez 49;
S. Van Gisbergen* (i) 50;
C. Bell 51-52;
M. McDowell 53-82.