Michael McDowell might not have won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Sonoma last weekend but by finishing P2, he achieved a different milestone, one that even he perhaps does not have an idea of. It was the first time he had finished P2 in his Cup career and he joined NASCAR’s All 40 club, meaning that he has finished at least in every position from P1 to P40.
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The Daytona 500 winner joins the likes of Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, and Ross Chastain to name a few. Busch achieved his All 40 with a P26 finish in 2018. Bowman did it in the best way possible – a race win at Chicagoland in 2019 while Chastain only recently completed the challenge last month after finishing P11 at the Darlington Raceway.
From 7th –> 2nd. @Mc_Driver was on a mission in the final laps Sunday, @RaceSonoma.@FordPerformance | @LovesTravelStop pic.twitter.com/UNplFsMr1h
— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) June 10, 2024
It took McDowell 481 Cup Series starts to join 12 other drivers in the All 40 club. However, a P2 is never as sweet as a win no matter what milestone one achieves, and after the race at Sonoma, the Front Row Motorsports driver was not a happy man.
Michael McDowell rues missed chances despite Sonoma result
Speaking to veteran motorsports journalist Bob Pockrass, the 2023 Brickyard winner said that there have been a lot of missed chances throughout the season. While it was a great recovery drive, McDowell was far from content with what he had achieved considering he is yet to book a playoff spot.
“It was a great recovery, no doubt, but we’ve just had too many missed opportunities this year. And in the Cup Series, you have to be perfect to win a race and we just weren’t perfect today but we were close. I believe whole-heartedly that we will win a race before the end of this regular season,” he said.
FRM is not the most competitive team in the series and it is McDowell’s last season with the outfit before he moves to Spire Motorsports in 2025. But his commitment to winning with the team still is quite admirable.
