Michael McDowell wins Verizon 200 at Indy, secures spot in NASCAR Playoffs
The story coming in was all about the international drivers, but Michael McDowell dominated on Sunday to win the Verizon 200 at Indy. It isn’t the oval, but a NASCAR win at IMS is a big deal. McDowell now has a win in a race that he dominated. He’s also got a spot in the playoffs.
This is officially a career-best season for Michael McDowell. It also reaffirms the decision Front Row Motorsports made to exercise their option on McDowell and Todd Gilliland for next season. On the Indy Road Course, the 34-team was solid all afternoon.
Despite a hard charge from Chase Elliott at the end of the race, McDowell held on strong. This came down to a long stretch of green flag racing, about 80 laps. Pole winner Daniel Suárez lost his track position on McDowell after a late pit stop went wrong.
Michael McDowell is now locked into the NASCAR Playoffs. This is great for him and Front Row. However, it is not great for the other bubble drivers. While Bubba Wallace had a 58-point cushion coming into the race on the cutline, he has now lost more than half of that. Suárez had a very good race, and McDowell has jumped him in the standings with the win.
If Wallace can hold his own at Watkins Glen, and then run a great race at Daytona, he should make it on points. However, the heat is now turned up after McDowell’s win. Huge consequences for the playoffs. Elliott will have a real chance to win next Sunday with the speed he had.
Michael McDowell gets the job done
When the NASCAR season starts, the goal is to make the playoffs. You can’t be a NASCAR champion if you don’t make the postseason. Drivers like Chase Elliott expect to make it every year. Drivers like McDowell hope to put themselves in a position like today. They did it and took advantage.
McDowell slipped up early in the race. However, he took advantage of the chance he was given, capitalized on the Trackhouse Racing team’s mistake, and put his car in victory lane. McDowell has a date with the bricks at Indy.
This is major for McDowell and for his team. It also puts so much pressure on these other drivers. Elliott looked like he couldn’t believe what had happened. He had a fast Chevy Camaro and was in a position to make a move if McDowell faltered. It just never happened. He was perfect over dozens of green flag laps.
With wins at Daytona and Indianapolis, Michael McDowell has two major victories. As McDowell said in his postrace comments, I’m not sure if it was a dominant win, but it felt like a dominant win. I lean toward saying it was absolutely a dominant performance.