“I Went Head-to-Head With Chase Elliott”: Why Michael McDowell Ranks Brickyard Above the Daytona 500 In His Tier of Wins

Michael McDowell will be starting Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Las Vegas from the front of the field. He posted the fastest speed around the 1.5-mile intermediate track in qualifying and will be on the front row alongside defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano. In light of this achievement, we look back at one of the most surprising opinions that he had earlier this year.

McDowell has won at both Daytona (Daytona 500, 2021) and Indianapolis (Road Course, 2023). Ahead of the 2025 Daytona 500, he told the press that his Brickyard victory meant more to him than its counterpart.

This is not the usual take that most stock car drivers would have, considering the legacy of the Great American Race. However, he had his reasons.

He said, “The reason that is because of what we did as a team. We dominated, we led the most laps, we executed on pit road, and it’s not a superspeedway, and nobody can say it’s fluky. And I went head-to-head with Chase Elliott for 30 laps. And to me, that is like so awesome to get a win like that.”

Superspeedway wins are often deemed as lucky affairs. McDowell’s win in Daytona came after a big crash that involved Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. Had it not been for that, a different driver might have reached victory lane. But in Indianapolis, there was no denying him or his deservedness to be the winner.

To beat a prolific road course racer like Elliott on the Indianapolis Road Course is not an ordinary feat. He did so by 0.937 seconds after leading 54 of the 82 laps in the race. Elliott himself was mightily impressed with the performance that McDowell pulled that day. Notably, he called it “mistake-free.”

McDowell proves yet again that he is the best at qualifying

The Spire Motorsports driver won the first six pole positions of his Cup Series career last year driving a Front Row Motorsports entry. He changed teams this season but hasn’t let go of his qualifying skills.

He turned a lap around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 28.883 seconds to jump past Logano in the starting order. This is the first time a Spire Motorsports driver has secured a pole position for a race.

All those millions of dollars spent during the offseason are finally coming to fruition, one would think. He took the #71 Chevrolet Camaro to an 11th-place finish in Daytona. He then brought home 13th place in Atlanta, 11th place in COTA, and 27th place in Phoenix. It remains to be seen how well he can go around Sin City.