INDIANAPOLIS, IN – August 14, 2023 – Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell won Sunday’s Verizon 200 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, becoming the 13th different full-time driver to win this year while securing a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. This weekend’s victory marked Ford’s 725th all-time win in NASCAR Cup Series competition and McDowell’s second win of his career. This was three consecutive wins for Ford Performance in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“Congratulations to Michael, Bob, Jerry, Travis, and everyone at Front Row Motorsports on the victory at Indianapolis,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “Michael and Travis executed throughout the long green flag run to stay up front and secure a well-deserved race win.”
“It was a total team effort. Our car was so fast. I just knew I had to execute and not make any mistakes. We lost the lead there in that first cycle but got it back on the second. We did everything we needed to do to have a fast Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang. So thankful, man. Such a grind – to finally be in victory lane. To do it at Indy, on a road course – it’s so special,” commented McDowell.
Sunday’s race on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis road course started with an incident on the second lap, causing a 4-lap caution period to repair the tire barrier. Michael McDowell started from P4 and quickly took the lead, winning the first stage and earning 10 playoff points. Since there were no cautions for stage breaks, the rest of the race was under green flag conditions. The race came down to a battle between McDowell and fellow playoff bubble drivers Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez. McDowell was able to score 19 playoff points, lead a race-high 54 laps, and win over Chase Elliott by 0.937 seconds.
Ford Performance teammate Chase Briscoe with Stewart-Haas Racing finished in P6 while RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher finished in P11 and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric finished in P13 and P15.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series also raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Saturday. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer finished in P6 while AM Racing’s Brett Moffitt finished in P10.
Both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series head to Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York this weekend.
35 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 453 WINS – 417 POLES
*Photos courtesy of NASCAR Media & Getty Images
About Roush Yates Engines
Roush Yates Engines is a leading-edge engine development company based in Mooresville, NC consisting of two state-of-the-art facilities – Roush Yates Engines and Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions, a world class AS9100 Rev D/ISO 13485 certified CNC manufacturing facility. The company’s core business includes designing, building and testing purpose-built race engines.
Ford Performance in partnership with Roush Yates Engines is the exclusive engine builder of the NASCAR FR9 Ford V8 engine and Ford Mustang 5.2L V8 engine, used in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
With an unparalleled culture of winning and steeped in rich racing history, Roush Yates Engines continues to follow the company’s vision to lead performance engine innovation and staying true to the company’s mission, provide race winning engines through demonstrated power and performance.
