(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Michael McDowell has left a lasting impression on everyone in NASCAR, unfortunately up until recently; it hadn’t been in a good way.
When thinking of McDowell the memory that comes to mind is April of 2008 during qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway. McDowell went down into turn one and got loose from the speedy dry that had been laid down after a blown engine and before he knew it, was a part of one of the worst accidents in NASCAR.
The rear end snapped around before then shooting the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 00 head on into the wall at an estimated 165 miles an hour. The car then flipped 10 times down the track before coming to rest on the apron, completely obliterated.
At the time McDowell was only a Sprint Cup Series rookie attempting to qualify for his second career race. Thankfully he walked away from the horrifying crash and competed in 20 more races that year. But he had no top 10 or top-five finishes and ended up 40th in points and lost the ride to David Reutimann.
His Sprint Cup career for the moment was over. But since then McDowell is working toward giving everyone a better impression.
In January he was named the driver of the No. 47 JTG Daughtery machine in the Nationwide Series. JTG has a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing and fit right in with the group. “I know that I’m climbing into a competitive program based on JTG’s on track performance,” McDowell said.
In their debut the Tom’s Snacks Toyota finished 14th in the season opening race at Daytona. But a week later in California McDowell lit up the night sky, literally, after the car he had qualified third with had an oil line break, which sent his Camry up in flames.
He made it home unhurt and on Wednesday, Feb. 25, he experienced one of the greatest joys in life—becoming a father. “I’m headed to Las Vegas to do what I love to do. I have a new fan, and I’m rolling all 7’s. Trace [son] was 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and was born at 7 o’clock on the dot. Jamie [his wife] is doing great and we couldn’t be happier. I wouldn’t bet against me this week.”
McDowell didn’t disappoint and took his sevens, including the No. 47 car, and finished a career and season best sixth place with it.
The JTG team plugged along and became one of the shining stars among the Nationwide Series regular drivers. By the halfway point of the season they were 11th in points, with three top 10s, except it wouldn’t be enough to keep McDowell in the seat.
At New Hampshire in June it was spotlighted that the team's 15 race deal was coming to an end and that they needed sponsorship to keep going. McDowell pleaded on the air for financial backing for a team that he had sitting just 30 points outside the top ten.
It worked, but only for the following weekend’s race in Daytona Beach. In their final race together, at the same track where it all began six months earlier, they finished 13th to earn their 11th top-15 finish in the 17 Nationwide Series races that had been run.
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