Michael McDowell returned to Daytona International Speedway on Friday, the day of his greatest success in the NASCAR Cup Series, and created a footnote about his career.
The 2021 Daytona 500 champion took pole position for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400. This will be his first start from the front row on the 2. 5-mile track with a steep bank.
“Qualifying has never been a strong point for us (as a team) at superspeedways, but racing has been,” McDowell said, as reported via NASCAR. com. “We just decided, okay, we’re going to take all the time imaginable to execute everything we can as productively as possible.
“We just proved to ourselves that after a lot of extra time, it’s been worth it. “
The Front Row Motorsports driver secured the best starting spot after posting a fastest lap of 183. 165 mph. McDowell will be joined at the front of the pack by teammate Todd Gilliland, who placed second. On the second row, Joey Logano will start alongside Ryan Preece and, on the third row, Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Josh Berry will join Chase Briscoe as Ford sweeps the top six.
With two races remaining in the regular season, Chris Buescher, the event’s defending champion, looks to keep his playoff chances alive without winning a race. At #15, Buescher leads Ross Chastain through 15 issues and Bubba Wallace, the first reason. force to get out of the playoffs, it’s Chastain by one point.
We’re in the qualifying procedure for the #BuschLightPole at @DAYTONA now on @USANetwork!pic. twitter. com/UTovhJBVGx
– NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 23, 2024
NASCAR officials imposed a penalty on Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and Joe Gibbs Racing on Thursday after an investigation into an engine violation on Denny Hamlin’s machine.
NASCAR eliminated normal season issues and 10 playoff issues for Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing after TRD made a logistical error.
TRD President David Wilson released a statement: “As an engine manufacturer for our NASCAR Cup Series partner teams, TRD is solely responsible for the handling and disposition of all of our engines before and after the race. Despite established procedures, Denny’s Race’s winning Bristol engine was mistakenly returned to our Costa Mesa facility, disassembled and rebuilt rather than being disassembled and inspected through NASCAR in accordance with regulations.
“Even though we knew with absolute certainty that the engine was legal and would have passed inspection, we left NASCAR in a position because they did not have the opportunity to properly inspect our engine. ”
The accumulated problems knocked the No. 11 Toyota team out of the normal season championship race, moving from third to sixth in the trouble standings. Entering Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, Hamlin follows excursion leader Tyler Reddick through 103 problems.
– Kenny Wallace (@Kenny_Wallace) August 22, 2024
Here’s a look at the lineup for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway:
Starting position, driver, number, team.
SATURDAY | 7:30 p. m. ET | @nbc pic. twitter. com/kyQNxKddO1
– NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 21, 2024
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