While most are excited about the return of the Brickyard 400 to the 2.589-mile oval racetrack at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time since 2020, Michael McDowell is not one of them. The Front Row Motorsports driver wished that NASCAR would run on the road course configuration just like it did over the last three seasons.Michael McDowell wheeled the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro to the victory lane last year, holding off Hendrick Motorsports ace Chase Elliott, en route to the former's second playoff appearance. However, that was on the road course at the IMS."It is cool to go back there because we won last year and there will be banners there with us in Victory Lane. That is cool. It is going to be fun," McDowell said of the upcoming race (via motorsports.com). "I know people won’t believe me when I say this, but I am. I wish we were still racing on the road course or had a doubleheader."It's not like McDowell doesn't want NASCAR to return to the oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, according to the 39-year-old Phoenix native, the feel is a lot different on the oval than it is on the street circuit."The feel is different. It’s no different than the Indy 500 versus the Indy Grand Prix when the Indy Car guys run on the road course. It’s still a cool race and still a cool weekend, but it’s not the Indy 500," he added.Nevertheless, Michael McDowell is curious to see how the NextGen car fares on the oval. The NextGen car debuted in 2022. Hence, the last time NASCAR ran on the IMS oval was with the Generation 6 car."Experienced a lot there"- Michael McDowell looks forward to capitalizing on his seat time at IndyMichael McDowell is no stranger to the nuances of racing at Indianapolis. He has 12 starts at the iconic oval, and his best finish (7th) came in 2020. What he intends to see is if the NextGen car lives up to his expectations on the track, which features tight corners, thus making passing difficult."At the end of the day, a lot of the time you’re battling the track itself," McDowell explained. "It can be difficult to pass because the corners are so tight, and you can’t really run well in a pack. Track position and restarts will be the key to a good run."Michael McDowell feels he has more seat time at Indy than most other drivers. He has driven several packages over the years and therefore, he is eager to try out the NextGen package as well. Speaking of which, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner said,"I’ve been in the sport a long time, so I have a lot of seat time at Indy... I’ve driven a lot of different packages there from low downforce to high downforce, no drag to a lot of drag, a thousand horsepower to 500 horsepower.""I feel like I’ve experienced a lot there, and I’m looking forward to getting the Next Gen car on the Indy Oval and see what it can do," he added.The 160-lap race is expected to kick off at 2:30 pm ET on Sunday, July 21. Fans can watch the race live on NBC Sports and Peacock or receive live radio updates on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.