TALLADEGA, Ala. — Michael McDowell was in control of Sunday’s race at Talladega Sunday, moments away from scoring his first win of the season.
Yet it was Tyler Reddick who celebrated in Victory Lane. McDowell crashed on the final lap along with several other drivers, the result of a late block on Brad Keselowski.
MORE: Talladega Cup results
“Just heartbroken, man,” McDowell said after the race. “I pull down a little bit sooner, and we win the race. But that’s racing.”
McDowell started the race on the pole, only the second time in his career he had done so. He led a race-high 36 laps and passed Reddick after taking the white flag.
A career-first win at Talladega was within McDowell’s reach. Yet he was not destined to win at NASCAR’s biggest track.
Reddick avoids the chaos in the tri-oval to win at @TALLADEGA! #GEICO500 pic.twitter.com/yCKTy1KrfN
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 21, 2024
The situation changed after Keselowski used a push from Noah Gragson to get a run. Keselowski moved high in an attempt to make a race-winning pass. McDowell moved up to block him.
Keselowski moved back to the bottom of the track. McDowell went to block that move but made contact with the front of Keselowski’s car.
That spun McDowell toward the outside wall and sparked an incident that collected multiple cars. Corey LaJoie even did a full rotation in his car after riding along the wall.
“I moved up to block Brad’s run and when I pulled back down, I just wasn’t clear,” McDowell said. “Barely got my bumper and turned me.
“Just unfortunate, and I hate it because we had a good chance of getting a Dark Horse Mustang in victory lane. We definitely had the speed. But on the flip side of that, it’s the last lap at Talladega and you’re going for a win.”
McDowell’s Sunday at Talladega ended with his No. 34 Ford on the back of a wrecker. McDowell finished 31st and failed to achieve his goal of delivering Ford its first Cup win of the season in the 10th race.
McDowell left Talladega wishing that he had blocked better and avoided triggering the last-lap crash. Yet he also experienced another emotion after a race featuring fuel-saving, aggressive moves and 72 lead changes.
“I’m super disappointed,” McDowell said. “I hate it that people got caught up in my mess. But I’m proud of our effort. I’m proud of our speed and I’m proud of our race team.”
McDowell entered Sunday’s race 23rd in points. A win would have put him in the playoffs for the second consecutive season and the third time since 2021.
Now, however, McDowell will head back to North Carolina and seek answers. He will examine the footage, talk to his spotter and try to determine exactly what he could have done differently to avoid the race-ending crash.
“You’re dealing with inches the whole time and I miscalculated,” McDowell said.
