MICHAEL'S RACING HISTORY

 

Growing up in Glendale, Arizona, Michael McDowell started racing go-karts at the age of eight-years-old. During his 10-year karting career, McDowell collected an impressive 18-consecutive feature race wins, a World Karting Association Championship, and back-to-back International Kart Federation Championships.

 

Transitioning from go-karts to larger open-wheel cars in his early teens, McDowell continued to set the racing world on fire by winning the 2002 Formula Renault USA Championship in his inaugural season. The following year (2003), McDowell made his Star Mazda Series (known today as the USF 2000 Championship) debut, where he earned two wins, three poles, and Rookie-of-the-Year honors. Wanting more, the young driver returned to the Star Mazda Series in 2004 and dominate — scoring a total of nine poles and seven victories on his way to capturing the 2004 Star Mazda Championship. **In 2013, McDowell was inducted into the Road to Indy Hall of Fame after being recognized for his impressive Star Mazda Series campaign.

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Continuing to climb the professional racing ladder, McDowell made his Champ Car (Indy Car) debut in 2005, where he competed in two event for RocketSports Racing: Surfers Paradise, Australia (finished 12th) and Mexico City, Mexico (finished 11th).

 

From 2005 - 2007, McDowell competed in the Grand-Am Cup Series, where he earned one win, multiple podiums, and most notably became the first driver (at the time) since Mario Andretti to compete in both an open-wheel as well as a sports car race in the same weekend (Mexico City, Mexico in 2005).

 

In 2007, McDowell took his driving talents to the world of stock car racing to compete full-time in the ARCA (Menards) Series. McDowell went on to finish runner-up in the overall championship points standings after collecting a total of four wins, nine poles, and Rookie-of-the-Year honors. Later that same year, McDowell received the opportunity to compete in a handful of NASCAR Truck and Xfinity Series events, and after having an impressive performance, his talents began to get noticed. Then, ahead of the 2008 NASCAR race season, McDowell was hand-picked by Michael Waltrip Racing to compete full-time at NASCAR’s biggest stage — the NASCAR Cup Series.

 

In present day, Michael McDowell is now a 16-year NASCAR Cup Series veteran driver, to which 2023 marks McDowell’s sixth season piloting the flagship No. 34 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports. McDowell is the 2021 Daytona 500 Champion, 2023 Brickyard 200 winner, and is currently competing in his second NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.