Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Brickyard 400 Media Availability | Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Friday, July 19, 2024
Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports, met with media members at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Friday afternoon. The most recent Cup Series winner at Indianapolis spoke about the weekend ahead, returning to the oval at IMS and more.
Michael McDowell, No. 34 Ford Mustang Dark Horse — TELL US ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO COME BACK HERE AND SWITCHING OVER TO THE OVAL.
“It’s been fun this morning just driving in and seeing your big face on the side of the racetrack. I think we came up with a name for it, Chick-fil-A Cheeks, is that right? We’re munching down some Chick-fil-A on the way in here, but it’s cool to be able to come back and take it in a little bit, because the last time I was sitting in this media center there was so much adrenaline, so much going on through your mind, right? It’s hard to really take in the moment because so much is happening. So even just walking back up here, it was just great memories of that day and what it meant. As you guys know, you go through an entire season and you sometimes forget how special of an event that this is until you get here and you see it and you look around and you walk through the garages. So yeah, it’s been fun.”
COMING HERE AS THE REIGNING INDIANAPOLIS WINNER AND BEING ONE OF THREE DRIVERS TO WIN A CUP RACE ON THE INDIANAPOLIS ROAD COURSE, WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO ADD A BRICKYARD 400 VICTORY TO YOUR RESUME?
“It would be awesome. I think that winning here is special. When you’re talking about the road courses versus the oval, the oval is prestigious. The Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 are prestigious events. Not to say that the road course isn’t prestigious because absolutely, anytime that you win at Indy, it’s prestigious, but to do it on the traditional yard of bricks, going the right direction, I think would probably one up the road course victory. It’s one of the races that, people asked me this week and last week about how I feel about us coming back to the oval, right? It’s so hard to answer because if you asked me today, what would I rather do, I’d rather race the road course because I would say our probability of winning is probably higher. But as a fan and as somebody that appreciates the sport, I think we should be racing on the oval because of what it means and the history of it. That’s the best way that I could describe it. Coming here and having an opportunity to do both, Reddick won, who won the first year? Allmendinger? So nobody’s won both, right? So there you go, so that opens up a category that if you could do it first, you’d be the first to do it both. Eventually, somebody will, so you might as well be the first one.”
WITH FIVE REGULAR SEASON RACES REMAINING ON THE SCHEDULE, WHAT’S THE APPROACH THAT YOU AND THE 34 TEAM LOOK AHEAD AS YOU TRY TO MAKE THE CUT FOR THE PLAYOFFS?
“Yeah, we just have to win. That’s the only thing we’ve been thinking about. Haven’t thought about anything else. We’ve known here for the last 10 weeks that it’s going to take a win for us to get in and we just keep that same approach that we’ve had so we just keep digging try to get it.”
WINNING HERE IN ANY CAPACITY IS ASTOUNDING, BUT DO YOU THINK IT WOULD MEAN EVEN MORE TO WIN HERE NOW ON THE OVAL, HAVING WON ON THE ROAD COURSE HERE? DO YOU THINK WHOEVER WINS SUNDAY WILL EXPERIENCE EVEN ANOTHER LEVEL OF EUPHORIA OR SOMETHING?
“I think that every win matters in the Cup Series, they’re all special. For me, it would be very rewarding to win on the oval because of my road course background, not that it’s expected, because it’s not expected, it’s hard to win these races, but it’s not a big surprise to win on the road course, for me at least, personally. So to do it at a place like this, that’s very hard. It’s very hard, this oval in particular, in our cars, you have to be perfect all day long. You have to execute all day long. Track position is so important that to put together a race here at the Brickyard and to win would be something that would be a career moment, I think. Even though winning on the race course was as well, it would mean more for sure.”
THERE ARE 10 FULL-TIME CUP DRIVERS WHO HAVE NEVER RACED HERE IN THE OVAL. HOW IS THAT ALL GOING TO FACTOR IN? IS IT GOING TO KIND OF BE EVENED OUT? WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR WITH THE NEXTGEN CAR, IN TERMS OF GETTING IT TO HANDLE AROUND HERE?
“Even though it was our first time here with the NextGen car, I do think that experience racing on the oval will still help. Not everything applies, but just the visual references that you have, the bumps, there are a few little things here that you do that you don’t do anywhere else. I think that they’ll still apply. I think there’s an advantage to running multiple races here. And then two, for most of those guys that have run races like myself, you’ve got to remember we’ve done it in every configuration. From old cars to COT, from high downforce to no downforce, from 1000 horsepower to 450 to 650, 550, and 750 in between tires, only lasting five laps to long green flag runs, the stages. So you have experience in a lot of different settings here over those 15 years. So even though the NextGen is different, I feel like that experience will still apply.”
THE NEXT GEN HAS A LOT OF CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IMSA CAR. DOES THAT MAKE CORNERING HERE A LITTLE BETTER IN TERMS OF IT’S MORE PRECISE, YOU’VE GOT A LITTLE BIT MORE, YOU CAN BE A LITTLE BETTER GOING INTO THE TURNS THAN WITH THE PREVIOUS CAR?
“That’s a great question and this car responds quicker. Everything about this car is quicker in response as far as the car doesn’t travel as much, the sidewalls not deflecting as much, and the steering, everything is more responsive and it’s more nimble as far as that goes. But we have less downforce now than we did in most of those years that we were here. So yes, it does respond quicker but you’re still taking a 4,000 pound heavy stock car that doesn’t have a lot of downforce. So this is one of the tougher tracks for that. When you are in the car you don’t feel much banking at all here. It feels very flat and very fast getting into the corner. But what you said is right, this is a precision racetrack. When you make adjustments in the car, you are just trying to move 3 or 4 inches. You are not trying to move 3 or 4 feet. So here, I think it is going to be fun with this car because this car responds so well. So you should be able to race and dice it up a little bit more.”
BUT IF YOU GO INTO TURN ONE OR TURN THREE ON THE OUTSIDE, WILL YOU BE ABLE TO MAKE IT STICK WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO MAKE A PASS?
“I’ll let you know around lap 15. We all are thinking the same thing. Anytime you come here, and I wasn’t at the test, but anytime you come here and test, or even in practice today, it’s going to be one lane. We know it’s going to be one particular line. But as we get restarts in and as we get racing side by side, the track takes rubber and you normally can move around a little bit. I do think it will be the same. I thought about it last night. I’m like, what would make this car any different that the track wouldn’t widen out? And with the tires and the rubber that we’re putting down, I don’t see there being any trend with this NextGen car that would tell me that it’s going to be one lane versus when we were here last time and we could run two lanes. The preferred lane is still going to be the bottom, but you should be able to go through the corner side by side. I do think it will take a little bit. It won’t happen today, right? I think by the time Xfinity races and lays rubber down and then we go out, it should be at a good spot, I hope.”
OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE FOCUSED ON THIS YEAR AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT, WE KNOW, BUT YOU’RE MAKING A MOVE NEXT YEAR. ARE YOU HAVING CONVERSATIONS ALREADY AND KIND OF PLANNING THINGS OUT ON WHAT THAT’S GOING TO LOOK LIKE FOR YOU NEXT YEAR?
“There’s definitely conversations that are happening in regards to people. Finding people and as you guys know, Spire is expanding right now and they’ve added a lot of people and there’s more people to come. So those conversations I’m definitely involved in and having them. Besides that, no, I’m focusing on my race and my race team. Then also too, it’s a little bit tricky, right? When it comes to racing, they’re still the enemy right now. I mean, really, and I am to them, right? Until that transition actually happens. So when it comes to racing this year, we’re not talking about those things, we’re just talking about people for next year.”
LOOKING AT THE REMAINING EVENTS ON THE SCHEDULE BEFORE THE PLAYOFFS START, DO YOU HAVE ONE OR TWO DATE CIRCLES THAT YOU THINK MIGHT GIVE YOU THE BEST CHANCE TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS?
“Yes. The way that we look at it and the way that I approach it and the way that we’ve looked at it for the last couple of years is, and it’s evolved, is that it used to be super speedways and road courses, right? Those were our opportunities to win. Now I don’t feel like we’re in that tight of a box because we have had good speed at
other racetracks. Last week at Pocono wasn’t a great weekend for us, and that usually lends to this weekend as far as setup and overall performance. So I’m hoping that this week is the week that we can get back on track as far as that goes. But we have Daytona, that’s obviously a crapshoot, you never know, but that’s a place that I’ve won at before, and I was in a position to win Talladega on the last lap this year too. I don’t feel like it’s our last chance. I feel like even this weekend we’ll have a shot at putting ourselves in position. The outright speed that we’ve had this season I think has given me the confidence that we’re not locked to just two or three tracks to do it at. It’s no secret we’re running out of time, right? And we know that. Chicago was one of those races we had circled and we ran well, but we didn’t win. So we have a few more weeks to try to get it done.”
WITH THE OLYMPIC BREAK COMING UP, DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE OLYMPIC MEMORIES OR ANY OLYMPIC MOMENTS THAT HAVE REALLY STOOD OUT FOR YOU OVER THE YEARS?
”No, not any particulars, but just like everybody else, anytime the Olympics are on, everybody’s engaged and watching. I think that over my childhood and even as this year has actually been fun with my kids, because they’re sort of into it. I think probably because they know that we’re getting a break because it’s the Olympics. So it’s been a topic at our house. But it’s just the pride that comes in rooting for your country. And obviously, America’s done well when it comes to gold medals and things like that. There’s been a lot of those different seasons of the Olympics where we just dominate a category, and that’s always been fun. And it hasn’t always been the same category, right? So yeah, nothing in particular, but we always watched and it was always a fun time at our house.”
