How Michael McDowell Is Trying to “Lead by Example” as He Settles in With Younger Teammates at Spire Motorsports

Michael McDowell transitioned from Front Row Motorsports to Spire Motorsports at the end of last year. He has already logged six top-20 finishes in nine races of his first full-time season with the team. Meanwhile, his teammates, Justin Haley and Carson Hocevar, are still cutting their teeth in the sport. And McDowell has been quietly leading by example to help bring them up to speed.

Ahead of the Talladega Superspeedway race, McDowell was asked about his role as the senior-most driver on the team and how he is “fathering” his younger teammates, not just in racing but also in life beyond the track — a responsibility he holds close to his heart.

With a touch of humor, McDowell quipped that Haley had started calling him “dad,” a nickname he quickly banned, finding it a bit too strange coming from the 25-year-old.

Offering a more measured perspective, McDowell explained, “To me, more than anything, I just try to do my thing and hopefully lead by example. And then we sit down and we have conversations; walk through anything that they want to walk through. But each one of those guys is so different. And so, I’m not trying to project or interject on them… how they should be or what they should do. They’re going to figure that out on their own.”

Yet McDowell emphasized that whenever issues arise, or when Haley or Hocevar approach him with questions like, “How would you handle this?” or “How would you navigate that?”, he is more than willing to lend a hand. He genuinely enjoys that guiding role, although McDowell noted it has not been a primary focus.

He admitted that with a new team and many moving parts to manage, he still has plenty on his own plate. While McDowell welcomes the mentorship aspect and takes it seriously, he also mentioned that there have not been many instances where he felt compelled to step in heavily thus far.

As of now, Michael McDowell sits at P19 in the driver standings while his teammates, Justin Haley and Carson Hocevar, are at P23 and P25, respectively. Among the three, Hocevar is the only driver with a top-five finish this season, while Justin Haley has bagged one top-10 [at Homestead] so far.

About the author

Neha Dwivedi

Neha Dwivedi is an experienced NASCAR Journalist at The SportsRush, having penned over 5500 articles on the sport to date. She was a seasoned writer long before she got into the world of NASCAR. Although she loves to see Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch win the races, she equally supports the emerging talents in the CARS Late Model and ARCA Menards Series.. For her work in NASCAR she has earned accolades from journalists like Susan Wade of The Athletic, as well as NASCAR drivers including Thad Moffit and Corey Lajoie. Her favorite moment from NASCAR was witnessing Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. win the championship trophies. Outside the racetrack world, Neha immerses herself in the literary world, exploring both fiction and non-fiction.

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