Michael McDowell Scores First Career Pole at Atlanta
9 months agoMichael McDowell won his first pole position in the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend. His first pole came in his 467th start, breaking J.D. McDuffie's record from 1978 by 63 races. Front Row Motorsports has received significantly more support from Ford in 2024, as they have been promoted to Tier One status as a Penske satellite, giving McDowell the fastest cars he has ever had. Last week at Daytona, however, McDowell suffered a mechanical breakdown early in the race and he fell 24 laps off the pace after running in the top ten for the entire first fuel stint. As a result, predicting McDowell's Atlanta speed proves difficult. If Atlanta goes similarly to Daytona, it's worth noting that the Chevys had better strategy than the Fords while the Toyotas had more speed. McDowell should run well, but Ford's setups and strategy could let him down.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference