McDowell Enjoys Top 10 in Vegas

Michael McDowell and his No. 47 Kingsford/Smith's Supermarkets-sponsored

NASCAR Nationwide Series team are learning each other quickly.  After a

disappointing performance last week in Fontana, Calif. the group took the

lessons learned and ran up front for a majority of the Sam's Town 300 race

at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

McDowell reflected on his sixth place finish: "We qualified well last week

but started the race with a car that was much too tight to race

competitively.  I didn't want to make the same mistake twice, so we gave up

a bit in qualifying trim in favor of a set-up that allowed us to move

forward aggressively.  This has been a great week for the McDowell family,

the birth of our son Trace and now a strong top 10 finish."

McDowell ran as high as second place on several occasions in a race that was

riddled with 13  caution periods. 

Commented Crew Chief Gene Nead: "It was treacherous out there today.  Vegas

is a fast track and the heat made it slippery.  Michael's talent really

showed through today and I'm excited to improve our results."

The JTG Daugherty team now gets a couple weeks to catch up on building its

new fleet of Toyota Camry's.  The next action for the NASCAR Nationwide

series is in two weeks in Bristol Motor Speedway (Tenn.).