With the Cup Series playoff bubble tighter than ever, Michael McDowell’s win in Indiana on Sunday came at just the right time for the Front Row Motorsports driver. The 2021 Daytona 500 winner booked his spot in the final 16, finishing ahead of Chase Elliott, someone who is still struggling to point his way in. But just how impressive was his win? According to NASCAR spotter Brett Griffin, it was one of the most impressive performances he has seen.
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In this week’s episode of Door Bumper Clear, Griffin expressed the magnitude of the win for McDowell, especially considering he was being chased down by a seven-time road course winner who was also in a must-win situation.
Brett Griffin believes McDowell won in a David vs Goliath battle against Elliott
Griffin claimed that what made the victory extra impressive was that there were hardly any unnecessary cautions or any incidents at all that could be said to affect the result. This was what happened at the 2021 Daytona 500, McDowell’s only career win to date, with several questioning the merit of that result due to a mega crash on the last lap.
Griffin said, “It’s easy for these guys to go fast, they’re race car race car drivers; it’s not easy to win, it’s not easy to know how to win. And for him to manage that race with a seven-time road course winner on your heels.. It’s easy to blow your corner, it’s easy to screw up, so huge shout out to him and his team.”
“Man, this will be one of the biggest wins in NASCAR history with David vs Goliath and David coming out on top.”
“The way this thing played out it was a pure race, we didn’t have a lot of BS cautions, a lot of BS stuff go on that could change the outcome of the race and so huge shout out to him.”
Michael McDowell does not believe this was a ‘Cinderella Win’
After the race, McDowell was asked if he agreed with the narrative around the result as a Cinderella Win and a result, not many people saw coming. The race winner responded, “Absolutely not. I think we’ve been the fastest road course car since this Next-Gen car over the average of it, and I think statistically it’ll show that.”
“I think if you just look at the average finish and you look at average running position, we’ve been a top 5 car every single road course race since this Next-Gen car has come in.”
And the stats back him up. Since the introduction of the Next Gen Car, McDowell leads the field in the number of points scored on road course races.
Next week, NASCAR heads to Watkins Glen. With McDowell getting the win, he might take his foot off the pedal, something that could give Chase Elliott his best chance to grab his first win of the season and seal his place in the playoffs.
