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Everything was going well during Sunday’s GEICO 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway until Michael McDowell went for the second block on Brad Keselowski to protect the lead coming to the finish line.
However, McDowell failed to clear Keselowski on the bottom, as he spun in front of the field and collected dozens of drivers with him. Tyler Reddick took advantage of it and passed Keselowski to earn his first win of the season.
Speaking with Frontstretch's Stephen Stumpf after being checked out of the infield care center about his last lap wreck, Michael McDowell said that he would learn from the experience and improve. He also expressed his apologies to the drivers who were involved in the incident.
Reflecting on the last lap incident, McDowell said:
“We had a good chance of getting a dark horse Mustang in Victory Lane; we definitely had the speed, but on the flip side of that, it's the last lap of Talladega, and you're going for a win, so know that I'll learn from it, go back and watch it, and see what I could have done differently and better.”
“Brad's a tough guy to beat here. He knows what to do on the last lap; he's won, I think seven times here or something like that, and he did everything right. He drug off of me, drug back, and I drug back to him to try to make sure he didn't have too big of a run, and then, you know, he got connected there with the #14 and just surged right before I pulled down.
"You're dealing with inches the whole time, and you know I miscalculated. I apologize to Brad, and everybody that was behind that got collected in that.”
Watch the full interview here:
“Just heartbroken man” – Michael McDowell on missing out on the opportunity at Talladega
The Front Row Motorsports driver started from pole and led a race-high 36 of 188 laps.
Michael McDowell was in the lead coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap and had the opportunity to win his first race of the season but didn’t make it across the checkered flag. He came away with a dismal 31st finish at Talladega.
Expressing his emotions over missing out on a potential third career victory, McDowell said:
“Just heartbroken man. I pulled down a little bit sooner and we win the race but that's racing and it's tough to get to get to Victory Lane”
With 157 points, Michael McDowell is 26th on the points table after 10 races.
