Track: Darlington Raceway, 1.36 Mile Oval
Race: 5 of 38
Event: The Real Heroes 400 (400.2 miles, 293 laps)
Michael McDowell
No. 34 CarParts.com Ford Mustang
Started: 31st
Finished: 23rd
Stage One: 26th
Stage Two: 23rd
Stage Three: 23rd
Michael McDowell took the green flag in Sunday’s Real Heroes 400 from the 31st position at Darlington Raceway. He noted early on in Stage 1 that his CarParts.com Ford Mustang was, “tight in the center of turn three and four” which made it hard for him to run the bottom of the race track and would go on to finish Stage 1 from the 26th position.
Under the Stage 1 caution, the No. 34 CarParts.com Ford came to pit road for 4 tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. Once racing resumed, McDowell noted that he had a bad vibration in the rear end of the race car. Over the course of a handful of cautions, the team was able to make the appropriate adjustments and resolve the issue as McDowell would go on to finish Stage 2 in the 23rd position.
During the Stage 2 caution, McDowell brought his CarParts.com Ford down pit road for 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment in hopes of loosening up his tight race car. As the green flag flew on the final stage of racing, McDowell noted that his racecar was still tight and lacked turn. McDowell would go on to take the checkered flag 23rd at Darlington Raceway.
McDowell on Darlington:
“It was fun to get back racing again today. Our CarParts.com Ford Mustang started out pretty decent, but then unfortunately we had a loose wheel and had to overcome that. A really great effort by John hunter Nemechek and everybody on the No. 38 crew. It was a great finish for Front Row Motorsports and now we have some good notes to look at for Wednesday’s race. Overall, it was a great day for our team as we learned a lot and hopefully we can get both cars in the top-10 next week. Lastly, I would like to thank CarParts.com for coming on board today. I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of the CarParts.com Ford Mustang on Wednesday.”
