Michael McDowell Isn’t Surprised He Won the Daytona 500

People who might not follow NASCAR regularly might think: Wow, some dark horse just won the Daytona 500. What a fluky deal. Do you feel it was?

You know, it’s not a quirk thing. Daytona is a place where I’ve had some success. Obviously I hadn’t won. But I have a couple top fives and a handful of top 10s at the track. So when I go there I feel like I have an opportunity to be in the conversation and potentially win the race.

But I do understand, I mean, for the millions of fans that might not regularly watch NASCAR, this is my first win and we’re typically not the favorite to win that race, obviously. It’s not offensive to me. When I come back here next year, I won’t be looked at as the dark horse anymore. I’ll like that.

Who did you feel had the strongest car? Denny Hamlin, who led 98 laps and finished fifth?

What he’s been able to do with only a handful of teammates is very impressive. He’s very strong, and the other Toyotas were working together and they were making big moves at the end. But he was running 12th or something there at the end and that is just too far back to have a chance.

You actually got through a big crash at the start of the race, not just the big fiery pileup at the end. Your car got some damage in that one, didn’t it? How did it drive after that?

We did have some light contact. I just brushed the wall. I hit it very square. It wasn’t something that hurt our performance. But we definitely had to execute the repairs well. My team did an excellent job. We are on the clock, so to speak, when you’re involved in an accident. You only have six minutes to make the repairs on pit road before you’re disqualified from the race. But we got the repairs done. We didn’t lose a lap.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/sports/autoracing/daytona-500-michael-mcdowell.html