Michael McDowell Scores Best Qualifying Run at Nashville, but Will Likely Fade
5 months agoMichael McDowell continues his best-ever season in terms of qualifying performance with a 14th-place run yesterday at Nashville while his teammate, Todd Gilliland, qualified a mere 32nd. Apparently, any speculation that Front Row Motorsports would shift its focus to Gilliland after McDowell announced his departure might have been premature. However, McDowell has not done a very good job of maintaining position throughout the field this season, as his pass differential of -124 is tied for fourth-worst in the series and only ranks ahead of Austin Dillon, Zane Smith, and Harrison Burton. McDowell has improved his position in all three previous races at Nashville with a best finish of 13th in 2022, but he also never qualified this well there. Since he did outqualify several of the regular contenders yesterday, a backward slide seems more likely, but a mid-teens finish is definitely possible for the Front Row driver.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference