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2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell started it off in the right direction from fourth place and maintained a consistent run in Sonoma County. Driving the #34 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports, McDowell demonstrated his road racing abilities by posting a season-best third-place finish at the Sonoma Raceway on Sunday.
After securing his first top-5 finish of the season, McDowell believes that he is getting closer to winning his second career Cup race in a topsy-turvy season so far.
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During the post-race interview, the 37-year-old spoke about his outing at the Sonoma Raceway. He said that his #34 was really good in the long run after firing off a little on the slow side. He went on to say that he chased the leaders in the final five laps, but it was not enough to get a lead from them. He later said that it is important to put yourself consistently in a position to win a race.
Michael McDowell said:
“You know, we just fired off a little on the slow side but we were really good on the long run. We started to reel the leaders in there the last five laps but it just took a little too long to get going. I am proud of the entire team. This was a really solid weekend for our Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang. You have to run second, third, fourth, and fifth consistently to put yourself in a position to win a race and we were close today.”
He continued by saying:
“We just needed a little more on the front end to challenge. I am really proud of everybody’s effort. We are getting closer. We are doing it week in and week out so I am really proud of everybody.”
Where does Michael McDowell stand in the Cup Series points table?
It was a much-needed third-place finish at Sonoma Raceway for Michael McDowell considering he moved up one more spot in the Cup Series points table. With the P3 finish, he gained 37 points and stands at 20th place with 318 points in the latest release of the Cup Series points table.
McDowell's overall third-place finish in the Cup race at Sonoma behind Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher was his first top-five on a non-superspeedway. Additionally, he has now notched a career-high top-10 finish in a season, earning him his sixth top-10 in only 16 races.
