Michael McDowell (racing driver)

This article is about the American racing driver. For the English racing driver, see Mike MacDowel. For the American author and screenwriter, see Michael McDowell (author).

Michael McDowell
McDowell at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024
Born	Michael Christopher McDowell (1984-12-21) December 21, 1984 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Achievements	2004 Star Mazda Championship Champion 2021 Daytona 500 Winner 2023 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard Winner
Awards	2007 ARCA Re/MAX Series Rookie of the Year 2003 Star Mazda Championship Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
501 races run over 17 years
Car no., team	No. 71 (Spire Motorsports)
2024 position	23rd
Best finish	15th (2023)
First race	2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500 (Martinsville)
Last race	2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
First win	2021 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last win	2023 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (Indy RC)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 44 6
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 Craftsman 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
ARCA Menards Series career
28 races run over 2 years
Best finish	2nd (2007)
First race	2006 Governor's Cup 200 (Milwaukee)
Last race	2007 Hantz Group 200 (Toledo)
First win	2007 WLWT Channel 5 150 (Kentucky)
Last win	2007 Hantz Group 300 (Toledo)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 18 9
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 November 10, 2024.

Michael Christopher McDowell (born December 21, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports. He has also raced in open-wheel and sports cars.

McDowell began his career in open-wheel cars, which included competing in Formula Renault and Champ Car, and in sports cars like the Rolex Sports Car Series and 24 Hours of Daytona. He moved to stock car racing in 2006 and his first Cup Series season came in 2008, the latter of which saw him attract attention for a violent qualifying crash at Texas Motor Speedway. However, after losing his ride at Michael Waltrip Racing, much of McDowell's Cup career in the following years was with smaller teams, oftentimes as a start and park driver. McDowell did not run full-time in the Cup Series again until 2017 with Leavine Family Racing when he ran all 36 races. McDowell joined his current employer Front Row in 2018 and has raced full-time for the team ever since. McDowell plans to leave FRM to join Spire Motorsports in 2025. He won the 2021 Daytona 500 with FRM, McDowell's first-ever win in the Cup Series. He also has a win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2016.

Early career

McDowell started 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 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, McDowell 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, McDowell met 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, McDowell 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 the 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. McDowell 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. McDowell also drove 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.

ARCA

ARCA RE/MAX Series owner Eddie Sharp 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. McDowell returned 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. McDowell 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 McDowell 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. McDowell scored 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 made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series. Driving the No. 17 for Darrell Waltrip Motorsports, McDowell qualified 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. 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. Because of this, he walked away from the crash without injury, and waved to the stunned crowd. 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 a 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 in 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. It formed a partnership with Whitney Motorsports and Mike Curb to field McDowell's car, which carried the No. 98.

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

2014: Leavine Family Racing

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. McDowell failed to qualify for the 2014 Daytona 500. McDowell had a Sprint Cup career-best seventh-place finish in the Coke Zero 400.

At 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 where Newman barely clipped McDowell in the right rear of his car, and with the force of the impact, the rear end housing was snapped, causing him to get airborne. The car bounced twice in the air before it hit the wall. His housing was forced into the wall. The race was red-flagged, though both drivers were unharmed.[1]

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. 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 the 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: Front Row Motorsports

On September 19, 2017, Leavine announced Kasey Kahne would be replacing McDowell in the No. 95 car for the 2018 season. On November 24, 2017, Front Row Motorsports announced that McDowell would drive their No. 34 car full-time in 2018, replacing Landon Cassill. 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 longtime sponsor K-Love 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 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." 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.

Two days before 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 the examination. 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 would return to the No. 34 for the 2020 season. 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 earned two top 10s two weeks in a row. McDowell would 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 had 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 first 20 races that season. During the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway, McDowell would win the pole and run up front most of the day before an on-track incident with driver Bubba Wallace which led to an angry interview from Wallace, as well as leaving the front bumper of his car by McDowell's garage. McDowell and Wallace later set aside their differences and along with McDowell's sponsor carparts.com, used the front bumper to raise over $34,000 for multiple charities including Victory Junction, and eventually gave away the front bumper to a fan. McDowell would capture his first top 10 finish on a road course in his career at the Daytona road course and would earn his new best career points standings finish in the cup series in 23rd. It was announced a month before the 2021 season started that McDowell had signed a one-year contract extension with FRM to return to the 34 for the following season.

2021: Daytona 500 win and first playoff appearance

McDowell celebrating after winning the 2021 Daytona 500

McDowell remained in FRM's No. 34 for a fourth year in 2021. He won the season-opening Daytona 500 after avoiding a crash involving the leaders Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski on the final lap. Before his big victory, McDowell had the second-most Cup Series starts before his first win. It was his first Cup Series win in his 358th start, second only to Michael Waltrip, whose first win came in his 463rd start. He would go on to finish the first 3 races of the season inside the top 10. McDowell also nearly won at Talladega in the spring, finishing a close third behind Keselowski and Byron. McDowell would follow this performance by a strong 7th-place finish at the inaugural cup series race at Circuit of the Americas after early contact with Martin Truex Jr. McDowell's win at Daytona locked him into the All-Star Race and the NASCAR playoffs for the first time in his 14-year cup series career. McDowell was eliminated from the playoffs following the conclusion of the Round of 16 at Bristol. He finished the season with one win, two top-fives, five top-tens, an average finish of 20.5, and finished 16th in the points standings.

2022

McDowell’s No. 34 car at Sonoma Raceway in 2022

McDowell started the 2022 season with a seventh place finish at the 2022 Daytona 500. He scored seven top-10 finishes during the regular season. On July 26, crew chief Blake Harris was suspended for four races and fined US$100,000 for an L2 Penalty during post-race inspection after the 2022 M&M's Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono. The penalty came under Sections 14.1 C, D and Q and 14.5 A and B in the NASCAR Rule Book, both of which pertain to the body and overall vehicle assembly rules surrounding modification of a single-source supplied part. In addition, the No. 34 team was docked 100 driver and owner points and 10 playoff points.

2023: Return to the playoffs

McDowell after winning the 2023 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard

McDowell began the 2023 season with a 28th place finish at the 2023 Daytona 500. He dominated the Indianapolis road race, landing him in the playoffs and earning him his second career win. He was eliminated at the conclusion of the Round of 16. He finished the season with 1 win, 2 top fives, 8 top tens, an average finish of 19.0, and finished 15th in the point standings.

2024: First career pole and final year with FRM

McDowell had his first pole at Atlanta after 467 Cup Series starts. At the race at Talladega, McDowell was leading on the final lap when he spun out trying to block Brad Keselowski. He finished 31st, not crossing the start-finish line and being marked with a DNF. On May 8, 2024, McDowell announced he would leave FRM at the end of the 2024 season and he had signed a multi-year contract with Spire Motorsports to drive the No. 71 Chevrolet starting in 2025. On June 1, 2024, McDowell won his 3rd pole of the season for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway. He set a new track record in Round 1 of qualifying with a 32.318s (139.241 mph) lap time. McDowell also finished the seaon with a career best 6 poles and had the most of any driver on the seaon.

Personal life

McDowell is married to Jami and they have five children. McDowell is a Christian.

McDowell and Justin Marks currently own a karting facility called the Trackhouse 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.

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

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
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
	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
		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
	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
2013				DAY 9	PHO Wth	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
	Front Row Motorsports	35	Ford																						GLN 38	MCH
	HScott Motorsports	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
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
2016	Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing	59	Chevy	DAY 15																																			HOM 10	30th	500
		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
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	ROV 18	DOV 26	TAL 40	KAN 27	MAR 25	TEX 29	PHO 16	HOM 28	26th	493
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	ROV 12	DOV 24	TAL 5	KAN 24	MAR 23	TEX 25	PHO 30	HOM 26	27th	485
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	DRC 10	DOV 26	DOV 25	DAY 14	DAR 16	RCH 25	BRI 10	LVS 21	TAL 36	ROV 32	KAN 19	TEX 26	MAR 28	PHO 23	23rd	588
2021				DAY 1	DRC 8	HOM 6	LVS 17	PHO 23	ATL 19	BRD 12	MAR 31	RCH 27	TAL 3	KAN 13	DAR 27	DOV 25	COA 7	CLT 20	SON 28	NSH 16	POC 19	POC 17	ROA 30	ATL 27	NHA 25	GLN 21	IRC 30	MCH 20	DAY 39	DAR 37	RCH 28	BRI 24	LVS 21	TAL 17	ROV 16	TEX 17	KAN 16	MAR 26	PHO 24	16th	2152
2022				DAY 7	CAL 31	LVS 27	PHO 27	ATL 24	COA 13	RCH 30	MAR 25	BRD 9	TAL 8	DOV 17	DAR 7	KAN 23	CLT 8	GTW 18	SON 3	NSH 13	ROA 8	ATL 15	NHA 28	POC 6	IRC 8	MCH 28	RCH 29	GLN 6	DAY 32	DAR 6	KAN 16	BRI 11	TEX 11	TAL 3	ROV 27	LVS 19	HOM 16	MAR 17	PHO 25	23rd	663
2023				DAY 28	CAL 18	LVS 25	PHO 13	ATL 21	COA 12	RCH 6	BRD 11	MAR 19	TAL 35	DOV 22	KAN 26	DAR 33	CLT 28	GTW 9	SON 7	NSH 28	CSC 7	ATL 4	NHA 13	POC 19	RCH 22	MCH 24	IRC 1*	GLN 36	DAY 13	DAR 32	KAN 26	BRI 6	TEX 15	TAL 21	ROV 32	LVS 17	HOM 22	MAR 25	PHO 9	15th	2185
2024				DAY 36	ATL 8	LVS 25	PHO 8	BRI 11	COA 38	RCH 26	MAR 21	TEX 35	TAL 31*	DOV 36	KAN 10	DAR 10	CLT 16	GTW 25	SON 2	IOW 23	NHA 15	NSH 35	CSC 5	POC 24	IND 16	RCH 15	MCH 19	DAY 30	DAR 28	ATL 22	GLN 7	BRI 11	KAN 29	TAL 37*	ROV 15	LVS 20	HOM 14	MAR 33	PHO 31	23rd	624
2025	Spire Motorsports	71	Chevy	DAY	ATL	COA	PHO	LVS	HOM	MAR	DAR	BRI	TAL	TEX	KAN	CLT	NSH	MCH	MXC	POC	ATL	CSC	SON	DOV	IND	IOW	GLN	RCH	DAY	DAR	GTW	BRI	NHA	KAN	ROV	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO	-*	-*
† – Qualified but replaced by Josh Wise. McDowell changed teams after NASCAR parked Kyle Busch.

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
2021			17	1
2022			6	7
2023			11	28
2024			2	36

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
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
	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
	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
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	01
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	01
		20														MCH 7
	SR² Motorsports	00	Toyota																												DOV 40	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM
2013		27		DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI 40	CAL 36																															100th	01
		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	01
	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	01

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
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

^* 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
	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
			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

External links

• Official website
• Official profile at Front Row Motorsports
• Michael McDowell driver statistics at Racing-Reference