McDowell Set for Cup Start

[Schwartz Fan]

McDowell Set for Cup Start

Jeff Wackerlin
Managing Editor



This weekend will mark the changing of the guard at Michael Waltrip Racing.

With Dale Jarrett's recent retirement at MWR, Michael McDowell was given the chance to jump into a seat in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Since the official announcement during the Sprint Media Tour back in January, McDowell has had March 30th circled on the calendar.

"I can't believe the time is finally here," McDowell said. "I know I can't underestimate how difficult it is going to be. I can act confident and say it's going to be easy and jump in and do it, but we all know there have been a lot of great drivers that haven't been able to do it."

Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway will mark McDowell's first career Cup Series start. He will be driving the No. 00 Toyota that was occupied by David Reutimann, who replaces Jarrett in the No. 44.

Although McDowell has only raced in one NASCAR race this season (finished 27th in the Nationwide race at Daytona), the 23-year-old has been preparaing non-stop by being at the track and practicing on a simulator.

"I use all the systems - it's a PC based simulator," McDowell said about racing on the computer. "I have a racing wheel, pedals, force feedback and a big monitor that's almost (like) looking out the windshield of your race car. It makes a huge difference.

"I've used gaming and simulation so long that I've been able to adapt what's real and what's not real. I think it's a huge help and I've probably done 750 laps around Martinsville already."

And he's already been at the track once - in a truck.

Martinsville is one of five tracks that McDowell has NASCAR experience under race conditions. In 2007, he made his first NASCAR start at the .526-mile oval driving Darrell Waltrip's No. 17 Toyota in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

"The biggest thing I learned is you have to be patient," McDowell said about Martinsville. "We got in a late race pileup and finished 30th, but I was able to complete 181 laps to gain some experience."

As far as his Sprint Cup Series experience goes, McDowell has tested at a number of venues leading up to this weekend, including Caraway Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.

After five years of success in the Star Mazda Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Series, it was McDowell's stock car performance in the ARCA RE/MAX Series that ultimately led to landing a ride at MWR. Last year, McDowell earned the ARCA Rookie of the Year honors after capturing four victories, 11 top fives, nine poles and a second-place finish in the standings.

McDowell, along with Reutimann and Waltrip, are all assured a berth in Sunday's race after all three cars were locked into the top 35 after the Bristol race.

"It's a relief that we are in the race, but we will still put pressure on ourselves to qualify well," McDowell said. "I do feel really comfortable about qualifying. I had nine poles in the ARCA RE/MAX Series last year. In all the other series I've been in, I've been able to qualify pretty well. I'm ready to get going with my crew chief - Bill Pappas. He's new to the Series and his open wheel résumé as a chief engineer is quite impressive. We look forward to learning and growing together to develop a solid program. We know we've got to make all the races and stay inside the top 35."

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