Food City Dirt Race
For just the third time ever, the NASCAR Cup Series headed to a dirt-packed Bristol Motor Speedway. While it remains a hotly contested race in and out of the garage on whether or not this particular race should be on the schedule, it currently is. So with that, teams threw on some dirt tires and give it their best shot – or spin as it were.
Michael McDowell, decidedly known for his road racing skills and not necessarily his dirt track ones, turned heads all while turning his car. The Front Row Motorsports driver qualified P13 and held steady just outside the top 10 throughout the opening laps.
Rich MARvelous Move(s) of the Race
While McDowell’s move was not an ideal mid-race situation to find oneself in, it did afford some valuable TV time for his sponsors as the broadcast re-aired the moves throughout the evening.
The first MARvelous spin occurred on Lap 88 as he came out of Turn 2. Beautifully, he avoided contact with his competitors, however, he did bring out the caution flag.
Then, as if once were not enough, Lap 99 brought a repeat spin. This time, it had Twitter screaming, “Now he’s just making it look easy!”
Take a moment to enjoy this compilation of both spins by The Spin Doctor, Michael McDowell.
Michael McDowell: THE SPIN DOCTOR pic.twitter.com/Q9JGFsfLbt
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 10, 2023
From there, McDowell battled on old tires throughout the remainder of the race. Ultimately he would finish his day P11. (Note: Original scoring had the No. 34 in P10, but updated scoring had him missing the top 10 by one-thousandth of a second.)
Honorable Mention
It was a big day for FRM as McDowell’s teammate, Todd Gilliland would make some noise as well. Pre-race, Gilliland noted he was the “most confident” he had been at a track and it showed. The choice to stay on track to start the final stage earned Gilliland and the No. 38 team an honorable mention this week.
After doing so, Gilliland held steady in the top five, even having multiple front-row restarts in the closing 90 laps. The No. 38 team would finish the dirt track day P8.
Post-Race Comments
In the post-race recap from FRM, McDowell shared his thoughts from the day:
“I don’t know how you could do that. I literally had two 360’s without hitting anything. The first one was on my own. I just went full lock and ran out of steering to the right and I just stayed in it and it was straight and I’m like, ‘Oh, man. I only lost two spots.’ And then on the last one I’m not sure. I think there was probably some contact below me. I think it was maybe the 16 and the 38 and I saw one just turn right like he got knocked off into me and spun around and didn’t hit anything again.
That is a very fortunate night when you can do two 360s and not get clobbered by the field. But we lost track position with that, so we had to stay out there on tires after that and not quite good enough at the end. We just lacked drive, but coming away with an 11th after two 360s is okay.”
PPN would like to extend a huge thank you to Rich Mar Florist for their partnership in the Rich MARvelous Move of the race! Be sure to check out their website for all your floral needs and follow them on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and stay up-to-date with all the Team Rich Mar NASCAR happenings.
