Michael McDowell reached a new milestone in his NASCAR career. A post by NASCAR Insights on X shared the achievement.For the first 466 starts of his career, he didn’t earn a single pole position. But in the last 69 races, he has claimed eight poles, more than any other driver in that same period. The post came right after McDowell took pole position for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway and also won the Busch Light Pole Award.Prior to joining Spire Motorsports, McDowell raced for Front Row Motorsports for six seasons, where he won 6 poles in total. He joined his current team in 2025 and has won 2 poles already. The post said,"After having no poles his first 466 Cup Series starts, Michael McDowell has now earned eight in the last 69 races, the most of any driver in that span. This is also Chevrolet's first drafting track pole since Alex Bowman won the pole for the 2023 Daytona 500"Michael McDowell backed up his first-round pace with an even faster lap in round two at Talladega. His 182.466 mph run gave him the top spot for Sunday’s race. It’s his second pole of the season and the eighth of his NASCAR Cup Series career. He beat Chase Briscoe to take this start.Kyle Busch qualified third. Ford drivers Austin Cindric and Ryan Preece rounded out the top five. Josh Berry took sixth, followed by playoff drivers Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney in seventh and eighth. Toyota drivers Riley Herbst and Bubba Wallace finished off the top 10 with solid efforts.The YellaWood 500 continues the Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoffs. The race airs Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. McDowell’s latest pole adds to a streak that includes previous poles at Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Talladega over the last two seasons.Michael McDowell says more horsepower is not the answerBack in May, Michael McDowell shared his thoughts on NASCAR’s horsepower debate. Many believe higher horsepower would make racing better. McDowell disagrees. The veteran driver said that the change from 670 to 750 horsepower wouldn’t improve the racing product.“I don't think it will help the product. I think it’s just an illusion that some of the drivers and media are trying to paint,” McDowell said in an interview with Dalton Hopkins at Nashville Superspeedway.Michael McDowell has been in the Cup Series since 2008. He’s driven several generations of cars, including the 900-horsepower Gen 6 models. His long experience gives weight to his opinion. Instead of engine power, he wants NASCAR to focus on tire changes.“We just need to keep adding softer tires and having more tire wear, and be fine,” he said. “I think it's going to be a lot of work for not much of a result on that. We'll see though, open-minded to it.”McDowell’s consistency this year has made him one of the top qualifiers in the Cup Series. In the 2025 season so far, Michael McDowell ranks 21st in the driver standings with 668 points across 33 races. He has scored five top-10 finishes, three top-fives, and led 86 laps.