Michael McDowell Wins Series-Best Fifth Pole at Atlanta but Probably Lacks Racecraft to Win
4 weeks agoMichael McDowell won his fifth pole of the season for this afternoon's Quaker State 400, tying Kyle Larson for the most this season. This marked his fourth consecutive pole on a drafting track, the longest such streak since Bill Elliott won six straight poles at Daytona and Talladega in 1985 and 1986. However, while qualifying on drafting tracks tends to reward the same drivers repeatedly, McDowell has not been very successful after winning the pole. Although he led more than 20 laps in all four of the previous races where he won the pole, his average finish of 23.5 has been disappointing. However, his crashes at Talladega and Daytona both came while leading late. If he doesn't crash, he's likely to contend as when he finished in the top ten in his last two starts. However, it's obviously difficult to predict who will crash.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference