DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Michael McDowell was pinned to Brad Keselowski’s bumper while waiting for his chance to win the Daytona 500.
Joey Logano was the leader, the laps turned down and yet no one had the nerve to pull out of the traffic. McDowell was sure Keselowski would eventually do it, and when he did, McDowell would play his hand.
On the final lap, Keselowski tried to shoot Logano, but Logano threw a block at his teammate who both crashed. McDowell stayed right there, flat in the gas, and drove through an accident scene for an incredible upset.
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“I knew he was going to win a race, and my plan was to get him moving,” McDowell said. “I knew I did not want to move too early, so I was committed to the (Keselowski) bumper and when he made the move, the hole opened.”
McDowell was a 100-1 underdog when the race began Sunday afternoon, winning for the first time in the start of the 358 Cup when the checkered flag finally waved about 15 minutes after midnight. The race was stopped for almost six hours by rain and ended nine hours after the green flag was waved at Daytona International Speedway.
Michael McDowell celebrates after winning the NASCAR Daytona 500 Motor Race at Daytona International Speedway, Monday, February 15, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla (AP Photo / John Raoux).
“There have been many years where I have wondered what do I do and why do I do it?” McDowell said. “I always knew if I just kept grinding that one day everything would be fine and going right.”
NASCAR’s season opener was full of storylines. Denny Hamlin tried to secure a third consecutive Daytona 500 victory, and the team he started with Michael Jordan debuted with manager Bubba Wallace.
Kyle Larson was back in exile after nearly a year for using a racial offshoot, and reigning cup champion Chase Elliott claimed his first Daytona 500 victory.
And at the very back of the field, Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope, 1990, he said would be his last NASCAR start. At 62, he was the oldest rider in the field, and his troubled victory 31 years ago is considered the greatest in racing history.
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McDowell did not take the title from Cope, in part because McDowell is a strong superspeedway racer who can mix it up with the usual suspects. If he could ever find himself in the right place at the right time, McDowell felt he could steal a victory.
“It was a difficult road for me. I had to spend many years on it,” McDowell said. His career has been stabilized by driving four seasons for Front Row Motorsports, a small Ford family team that can stand on Daytona.
McDowell was in the mix even before the two Penske cars derailed the finish line. His Ford was strong enough to push Keselowski, and McDowell thought with the checkered flag in sight, and he would try to overtake Keselowski as they left the last turn.
Logano’s block of Keselowski – it looked like Keselowski had already started pulling next to his teammate – caused a fiery congestion with multiple cars that were in McDowell’s rearview mirror.
“Brad turned right, Joey turned left and I went right through the middle,” McDowell said. “It’s just an ambiguity from there.”
Keselowski subtly blamed Logano for the messy finish.
“I wanted to make the pass to win the Daytona 500, and it was really bad,” Keselowski said. “I do not feel I have made a mistake, but I can not drive everyone’s cars. So frustrating. ‘
Logano had no explanation for the end.
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“Pandemonium, I think. Chaos has struck,” says Logano, who praises McDowell. ‘It’s a real bummer that none of the Penske cars won, but at least a Ford won and I’m very happy for McDowell.
“If we could not win, I’m very glad McDowell won this thing.”
McDowell, who led less than half a lap, dragged Elliott and Austin Dillon until NASCAR finally sounded a warning.
A bunch of solid contenders were knocked off just 15 laps of the race by a 16-car accident that started in front of the field. This diluted the pack and made a showdown between Kevin Harvick and Hamlin.
Hamlin and Harvick had the two best cars, but the pit strategy put an end to the chance that Hamlin would win a third consecutive Daytona 500. The Ford drivers sat first as a group, followed by the Chevrolets a lap later and finally the Toyota.
But the Toyota group has only five cars and they could not regroup to regain control of the race. That put Logano, Keselowski and the Ford drivers ahead, and Logano led the last 25 laps until Keselowski made his move.
McDowell keeps Elliott and Dillon off. Harvick finished fourth and Hamlin was fifth after leading 98 laps in the race.
Only 11 cars finished on the front lap.