McDowell wheels backup car to 21st-place finish in California
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (February 22, 2010) – The first outing of Michael McDowell’s two-race West Coast swing for the NASCAR Nationwide Series came with some early-weekend adversity, but the Phoenix, Ariz. native still brought home a respectable finish for MacDonald Motorsports.
On the third lap of practice for the Stater Brothers 300, a blown tire led to a wrecked racecar, forcing McDowell and his team to quickly prep the backup car, scraping together only a few laps of practice.
On Saturday, McDowell piloted the backup to a 21st-place finish, moving up to 20th-place in the overall point standings.
“This was solid weekend for the MacDonald Motorsports team,” said McDowell. “The primary car was awesome and then the tire blew. It’s a real shame because the guys worked so hard to bring that beautiful car and then – bam – it’s done just like that.
“I’m really proud of the effort in getting the backup [car] race-ready. We were locked in, so there wasn’t any need to press the issue in qualifying. We were pretty methodical during the race and came home with a nice points day. This team is trying to scratch and claw its way up the standings, so points are very important to us.”
Next week, McDowell and the No. 81 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge will take on Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Sam’s Town 300. The race will be televised on ESPN2 at 4pm EST. |
