NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
AUGUST 22, 2025
Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media onsite in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway. McDowell has one NASCAR Cup Series win at the “World Center of Racing” on his resume, which came in the 2021 DAYTONA 500.
Media Availability Quotes:
I would assume there’s a certain level of confidence that you bring to Daytona…
“Yeah, there is confidence, for sure. But we also have all been here enough to know that there’s a lot that can happen. I was just watching last year’s race here — we led with, I think 10 laps to go and we were in position to kind of control the race and ended up almost upside down and finished in the 20s, right? So I come here confident that we can be up front and put ourselves in position. I feel like situationally being aware of just how these things play out and where to be and all those things; I feel really comfortable and confident in. But it all goes out the window when things get crazy. So, you know, I think there’s a level of confidence and angst that you bring to places like this because there’s so many variables that are not controllable, but I feel good about it being the cutoff race and giving us an opportunity to go race for it.”
With so many drivers needing to win, how do you anticipate this kind of playing out?
“Like you guys do… it’s going to be a mess, right? I mean, we all know it.
We’ve all lived it and seen it. It’s not like that’s going to be a big shock to us, and that’s why this race is so unpredictable, just because the desperation is high for everybody. So those moments where you’re like — yeah, I’ll give a little bit because whether I’m second or third in line here isn’t going to really matter, does matter in this race, so the intensity just ramps up. I think some of the decision-making is processing changes here with everything on the line.”
How important is qualifying to you knowing that there is no practice at Daytona, considering this is the final race before the playoffs start next week?
“I’m not really concerned about the not practicing or not having laps parts, as much as I am about having a better starting position than what our current is with the metrics is. Pit road selection and all those things are important, but I think we’re all used to just unloading and going now and I don’t think much would change as far as what you would do for adjustments because it’s so different today compared to tomorrow. Like when you go to qualify, these cars are on the ground and drive terrible; bounce all around and shoot sparks. And then you pick it up off the ground for tomorrow and it drives nice and feels like a completely different car. So I don’t think that part matters as much as just getting a better starting spot and track position. I think it still matters… I mean, I know that there’s times where this race ebbs and flows. In the pack, you can somewhat make moves, but I would rather be starting in the top-10 than starting in 18th or 19th. I would like to get qualifying in, for sure.”
The 2026 schedule has been released earlier this week. Chicagoland is coming back to NASCAR. What are your thoughts on that?
“My honest thoughts… I would like to add Chicago Street Course back, if we could (laughs). You know, I’m obviously really biased when it comes to that.
Chicagoland is a really fun racetrack. It has character bumps and it’s slick. We haven’t been there in so many years, so I don’t know what it’s going to be like. But this current package races is really well at mile-and-a-halves, so I feel like it’s a good selection. I just hate losing a road course in the mix.”
You partially answered this with the qualifying question, but with the expected to be so desperate, kind of a mess, do you want to be in front of the wrecks or behind the wrecks so you can you know navigate around them?
“Yeah, you don’t want to be in the wreck, I know that. You know, it’s hard to answer that question. It’s a conversation that I’m sure all the teams had this week that are in that spot where they need to win. You can take the mindset of — hey, let’s miss it; let’s avoid it and get to the end. You can and sometimes that works. The problem with that is that you aren’t going to have track position. You’re going to have to come through whatever the field is left. Now if there’s only eight cars, maybe that’s okay. But if there’s 22 cars, that’s hard to pass. But you run the risk running up front and trying to get stage points… and not that the stage points are really what you’re focusing on, you just want to keep track position and stay up front. I think is the best way to give yourself a chance at winning, but it’s also the best chance of being in the crash because it normally starts up there.
So yeah, it’s tough. You know, I always let it kind of play out organically in my own mind and race as I go out there to try to lead every lap. If you get stuck somewhere and the packs not really moving and you’re not able to make moves or pit strategy or caution falls or wherever it is; then you assess where you’re at, where you’re at track position-wise, and then you just stick to your gut. You can feel the energy and you can go – oh no, I’m going to be in it… I know I’m going to be in it. You got to make that decision. Nobody can help you make that decision of like — I’m going to bail out and miss it or I’m going to be just in front of it.
So it’s tough, but for me, it’s better to stay up front and it’s better to be up there all day and all night long so that when it counts, you know how to make the right moves and how to control the lanes. But it’s very easy to be in it doing that, too. We had that conversation this week and it was a mixed bag.”
I’m sure you guys have had the meetings in the Spire camp about what to do this weekend, and I’m sure you guys have put together some kind of plan where it’s worked together. But at the same time, you know, try to get in the playoffs. What is the attitude among the Spire camp knowing when you rub shoulders with your teammates and knowing that you guys have to compete with each other in this in the last chance to make the playoffs to get to win?
“Yeah, I think that when it comes to this race in particular, you need each other. I think that the way that give yourself the best chance to run up front and have help when you need it is to have your help be your teammates. As you guys have seen, that doesn’t always work out, but it has worked out, too. We’ve seen teams execute it.
So our goal at Spire would be one of those teams that executes that well. You know, as far as what you’re talking about, when it comes to these races, everybody’s fighting for themselves to get themselves in the playoffs. But from a company standpoint, you know, we have to make sure that we take care of each other in that process. So that doesn’t mean you’re going to forfeit your race at by any means, but you definitely have to try to work together when you can and put yourself in the best position.
You can come up with the greatest plan ever and come up with all these different scenarios, and very rarely do they actually play out that way. But you have to run through them. You have to talk through them. I think that we’ve seen the RFK cars execute teamwork really well. We’ve seen the Penske cars execute teamwork really well. When teams do it well and they have each other’s back, I think it does pay off. But we’ve also seen where half of them get crashed out; you don’t have any of those guys left and it is what it is. That could be the case tomorrow night, but I think you have to have a plan to give yourself the best shot to win the race, and the best shot to win the race is to work together and have each other at the end because you know they’re not going to leave you or take that run and put you three or four wide… all the things that could mix it up. But very rarely do you get all of your cars lined up for the green-white-checkered and you’re in that perfect spot, so you just you just got to wait and see.”
I seem to recall you mentioning, forgive me if I’m getting this wrong, but that when you came over from Front Row to Spire, that some of the things were different and that not everything correlated to the success of the superspeedways. You haven’t had a top-10 so far, and I’m sure there’s various factors, but what are you guys having to do and how have you tried to develop this car and this program to get to this point where tomorrow night a guy and a team that hasn’t been top-10 can win and get in the playoffs?
“Yeah, I think more of what we were talking about probably doesn’t correlate so much to the superspeedways, as far as the feel and what I’m looking for and getting that same kind of feel out of it. You know, for sure the speed at the superspeedways from a qualifying standpoint — you know, last year, we sat on six poles, so it’s hard to beat that. But I felt like we made gains from Daytona to Talladega… we qualified I think 14th at Talladega, so we made a pretty good gain at getting close to that top-10 speed.
So I think to answer your question, we’re trying to build more speed into our cars, for sure, for these races. In particular, the Fords have been strong here when it comes to qualifying and just executing.
That’s why I hope we qualify tonight. I think we’ve made some gains, hopefully. The car drives well, though, in the pack in it and it’s raced, we just had misfortune when it comes to the superspeedway races. But I feel like we can put ourselves in position and contend. I don’t feel like we’re lacking anything to do that, but it’s a building process, too. I think that Spire at the superspeedways — if you asked them where they’re going to qualify, they would say somewhere in the high 20s the 30s. Where now, we’re talking about teens and hopefully we get into the single digits It’s .a lot easier to win when your cars have that much speed in them, there’s no doubt about it. There’s a correlation. You know, some people say qualifying doesn’t matter, but it’s a lot easier sitting on the pole and leading a lot of laps to be up front and have a shot at it, so we’re working towards that. But I feel like this is one of the next steps and builds that we have and hopefully we get to see how it performs.”
Like you mentioned earlier, in this race last year, you were leading with 10 to go. What was the takeaway from that? Is there anything looking back that, it was just as much the push in the wrong spot, or what can you do because obviously you hope to be in that same spot come tomorrow night with 10 laps ago. How does this not happen again?
“Yeah, that’s a great question…. I’m very analytical, so when I look at it, I look at it as how I could have done things differently to not get spun, where it’d be easy just to say – well, the No. 2 pushed me on the entry of turn one with a lot of speed and spun me out and there’s not a whole lot you can do to it. I felt like I was shading a little bit left. I could have been closer to the wall if I would have drugged back to him a little bit sooner. We got a push when the momentum was different… so I think about all those things and analyze them post-race because you can. On Monday morning, it’s very easy to go back and look at it, so yeah, you can learn from all those experiences. I think if you asked him, he just made contact at the wrong spot and things happen, and when you get down to the end of the race, that’s kind of how it goes, right? Nobody really lifts and you’re trying to build momentum.
So you can’t really get super upset about any of those things, but I always look at it like this — if you didn’t win you did something wrong, so what are you going to do different to win? So I still look at that situation that even though I got spun out from behind, that there’s things that I could have done differently to put myself in a better position to win.”
We have some organizations that are trying to get one of their cars in because other drivers are already in. We have you guys at Spire Motorsports trying to get at least one person in. But in the day and age where we see superspeedway racing is kind of gridlocked, locked down and saving fuel, how in the world is anybody going to help each other tomorrow?
“It’s great question. Yeah, it’s tough. It is tough because it is gridlocked, especially the first little bit where you’re saving fuel. It’s nice how this first stage plays out here because everybody can make it, so you can go hard and kind of hopefully get in position to manage the rest of the race from there. But it always comes down to that last pit stop and that last stage, right? It always comes down to that last pit stop and how you execute pit road; what strategy you use and how many people come with you and all those things. So I feel like that’s when that piece comes together of when you come off pit road for that final stop and you want to be with each other. That’s when you can actually make things happen because if it’s any different than that, it’s going to be hard to coordinate it and organize it.
So yeah, to answer your question, it’s just about executing that final pit stop.”
This is really the race where you have to win… where you can’t go into it and say I’d love to get a top-10 or my car is good enough for whatever. A lot of people have to win. What is the difference in that, whether it be a feeling or whatever it is, knowing that you have that a win is the only thing you can do in this?
“Yeah, it’s a great question. I think it makes it very clear of what you have to do and how you’re going to do it, right? There are times where you go — oh that’s a low percentage move. Well, it doesn’t matter… low percentage is all you got right now, right? And so I think it changes that mindset of the risk versus reward.
But I think I’ve said it and been talking about it for a while now and it’s kind of played its way out – we treat, I treat, my crew chief, as you guys see with the strategies, treats every race like it’s ‘do or die’ and you have to win because pointing your way in is so tough, as we see. You look at guys like Chris Buescher, again, who’s had a great season; scored a lot of points and potentially won’t make it unless he wins. So we treated Richmond like that. We treated Watkins Glen like that. We treated all of them like that. So you give up a lot of points in the process of doing it like that, but that’s the mindset that you have to have to potentially get a win and change your season. I think last week was awesome evidence of that, right? Like you could have a tough season, a rough season, but you’re only one week away from that changing. We’re out of weeks now as we head into Daytona. This is the last week that that can change. But I do feel like that mindset for a lot of the teams is what you have to have for the playoffs, even the best teams.”
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