"AJ got word to us that he lost his brakes," McDowell said. "It was nothing intentional, he had some brake problems. It's just unfortunate because we were not able to finish the race."
McDowell's Toyota had already suffered damage from an earlier accident involving a total of 11 cars on Lap 229, but this time his team was not allowed to return the car to the track resulting in a 40th place finish.
"There was a huge pileup and we were caught up in that ordeal too," McDowell said. "I think something happened between the 22 (Dave Blaney) and the 96 (J.J. Yeley). That stacked everybody up and wrecked a bunch of good cars. We mostly had rear end damage to the No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine, but at least at that point we were going to be able to finish the race. We thought after the second incident, we may still be able to get back out there. In the end, we couldn't."
McDowell completed a total of 258 of 410 laps in his first time out at the .75-mile oval and is currently 31st in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owners points heading into Darlington Raceway this weekend.
"We've got to have a good weekend at Darlington," McDowell said. "We are in danger of falling outside of the top 35 in points. We've been trying really hard to stay there, but when you are knocked out of a race it's tough to do that. We need a little luck on our side."
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Michael McDowell, Johnny Sauter, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch were among the victims in the Lap 229 crash.
MWR RACE RESULTS: Richmond International Raceway
Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 |
| FIN |
STR |
CAR |
DRIVER |
LAPS |
STATUS |
| 22 |
14 |
44 |
David Reutimann |
407 |
RUNNING |
| 37 |
27 |
55 |
Michael Waltrip |
352 |
PARKED |
| 40 |
29 |
00 |
Michael McDowell |
258 |
ACCIDENT |
Live coverage of the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, May 10th begins at 7 p.m. Eastern on FOX and 7:20 p.m. Eastern on MRN Radio. |
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The No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry also ran competitive laps in first practice earlier in the day. Michael was 23rd fastest -just 0.326 off the fastest car of the session. |
MWR QUALIFYING RESULTS: Richmond International Raceway
Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 |
| Pos |
Car |
Driver |
Time |
Speed |
-Fastest |
-Next |
| 14 |
44 |
David Reutimann |
21.577 |
125.133 |
0.182 |
0.006 |
| 27 |
55 |
Michael Waltrip |
21.674 |
124.573 |
0.279 |
0.005 |
| 29 |
00 |
Michael McDowell |
21.698 |
124.435 |
0.303 |
0.006 |
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RACE PREVIEW
SOMETHING NEW
McDowell Visits Richmond for the First Time
in the Aaron's Dream Machine
RICHMOND, Va. (April 30, 2008) – Michael McDowell sets his sights on Richmond International Raceway (RIR) for the first time in his career as he prepares for his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in the No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry.
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"Every weekend, I learn more and more, ...we are making progress every week."
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"I've never raced there, but I really like short track racing," McDowell said. "Running under the lights is always great and after Phoenix (International Raceway), I feel confident about our package. This will be my first time at Richmond so this weekend will be no different. It is only my second short track race on the circuit."
During his first, he finished 26th in the No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry at Martinsville Speedway during his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut. The team is brining the same chassis (571) this weekend to RIR.
"We want to top that finish in a big way," said McDowell whose career-best NSCS finish is 26th at both Martinsville Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. "We should have finished in the top 15 at Martinsville, but circumstance forced us to settle for a 26th place finish after we had such a good run."
The four-time ARCA RE/MAX Series winner is not used to having to settle, but is continuing to learn each week.
"Every weekend, I learn more and more," McDowell said. "We led the most laps and won the most races in the ARCA RE/MAX Series last year. I knew that having to relearn some things and visit tracks for the first time was going to be a challenge at this level, but I also know we are making progress every week. We have just had some things happen to us that hurt our efforts and the end results did not reflect our performance."
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McDowell has performed well in his first four starts and has kept his Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry team in the top 35 owners points.
"We have dropped a couple spots, but we can pick it back up with some solid results," McDowell said. "We're more than capable of doing it and staying inside the top 35 this season."
In between racing at Talladega Superspeedway and RIR, McDowell detoured to Nashville Superspeedway for testing.
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"We try to test as much as possible," McDowell said. "I'm seeing a lot of these tracks for the first times and we want to be prepared. So, we are testing all the time. We're coming up on some track that I am really looking forward to racing. Richmond is one of them."
The Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry team travels to RIR on Thursday. Live coverage of the event on Saturday, May 3rd begins at 7 p.m. ET on FOX and 7:30 p.m. ET.
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