SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- After a dominant performance over one of the Cup Series' longest green flag runs in recent memory, Michael McDowell led a career-high 54 laps and held off Chase Elliott on the final lap to take the checkered flag in the Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. McDowell's win is the second of his Cup career, the fourth in the history of Front Row Motorsports, and it locks McDowell into the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
McDowell prevailed in what turned into a race-long three car battle between himself, Elliott and Daniel Suarez, which would ultimately turn on the final round of green flag pit stops. After a slow stop for Suarez and good execution by McDowell and his crew, McDowell was able to open up a sizable gap on Elliott, and he would never relinquish the lead even as Elliott began to close over the final two laps.
As impressive as McDowell's victory was the pace of Sunday's race, which was slowed just once for a crash by Justin Haley on Lap 2. That marks the first time a Cup Series race has featured only a single caution since Fontana in 2012.
Verizon 200 at the Brickyard unofficial results
- #34 - Michael McDowell
- #9 - Chase Elliott
- #99 - Daniel Suarez
- #45 - Tyler Reddick
- #48 - Alex Bowman
- #14 - Chase Briscoe
- #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #91 - Shane van Gisbergen
McDowell's victory was a very popular one, just as his first career win in the Daytona 500 was after a decade of toiling in lesser cars trying to earn his way up. However, that maiden win for McDowell came during the COVID pandemic, which meant that he couldn't enjoy it with his family, and that he also had to hoist the Harley J. Earl Trophy in an empty Victory Lane.
Today was far different: McDowell's family and his crew were both there to greet him along the Yard of Bricks, and the 38-year-old from Glendale, Arizona was deeply appreciative.
"It's such a big deal," McDowell told NBC Sports. "I mean, winning the Daytona 500 was one of the coolest moments you could ever have. But going to Victory Lane without your family, that was tough. We cherry pick -- my family comes to the races we think we can win. We thought we could win this one. Just so proud."
After entering Sunday's race three points below the cut line, McDowell now locks in as the 13th driver on the NASCAR playoff grid. That means only three playoff spots now remain, and those who have yet to secure a playoff spot have been bumped closer to the cut line.
Kevin Harvick (+145) and Brad Keselowski (+143) continue to hold comfortable advantages, but Bubba Wallace is now the last driver above the cut line by 28 points over Daniel Suarez. While Wallace was able to avoid major trouble all day and finish 18th, his hold on the final playoff spot became much more conspicuous thanks to the amount of points Suarez earned and stands to earn on another road course next week at Watkins Glen.
After starting on the pole, Suarez led twice for six laps and had a car that challenged McDowell's for much of the afternoon. But after the air hose got stuck underneath his left front wheel on his final pit stop, Suarez lost significant track time that he was unable to make up under green -- costing him a chance to put himself in McDowell's position and take a playoff spot for himself.
"We win and we lose as a team, and that's all I can say," Suarez told NBC Sports. "The guys brought a very fast race car. I felt that maybe we were one adjustment behind in the first run with the back of the car, but then we made it a little bit better. But I felt like I was always one step behind the 9 and the 34, and then at the end, I felt that when my car came alive again, we had that issue.
"Just a little bit heartbreaking, but that's part of the sport. All we can do is continue to push, continue to build race cars like this, and I'll keep on winning races."
Others below the cut line -- drivers such as Ty Gibbs (-49), Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman (-80) -- saw their paths to the playoffs become much clearer as they likely face must-win scenarios with two races remaining in the regular season.
Around the World, Around the Track
The starting field at Indianapolis was colored by a significant international presence, as the 39-car field was comprised of drivers from seven different countries. Along with returning drivers like Shane van Gisbergen (New Zealand), Jenson Button (Great Britain) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany), Sunday also saw the Cup debuts of former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) as well as another V8 Supercars driver in Brodie Kostecki (Australia).
Van Gisbergen led the international contingent with yet another strong performance in 10th, followed by Kostecki who finished 22nd in his first NASCAR race since he ran almost a full season in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East in 2014. Rockenfeller would finish 24th, just ahead of Button in 28th and Kobayashi in 33rd.
Button and Kobayashi would have the most eventful days, with Kobayashi getting two "Welcome to NASCAR" moments -- two spins courtesy of the bumpers of Andy Lally and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -- and Button putting lessons he has learned in his third Cup start to the test. Button had a mid-race tiff with Stenhouse Jr., which included the two exchanging not-so friendly contact.
As only the second Japanese driver to ever run a Cup race, Kobayashi's 33rd matched the best finish for a driver of his nationality, initially set by Hideo Fukuyama at Las Vegas in 2003. The former F1 driver and international racing star told reporters on pit road afterward that he enjoyed his experience overall and that he wants to run another NASCAR race in the future.
"I want to come back," Kobayashi said. "This time was challenging, but I understand what I need to do and got quite good experience. Let's see what will happen, but I think just the experience was really amazing, myself. Because I always dreamed to race in NASCAR at one point when I was a kid ... I hope we think we can explore even more in Japan about NASCAR."
Race results rundown
- With Michael McDowell's win being the first for Front Row Motorsports this season, nine different race teams (Trackhouse, Penske, RCR, Hendrick, RFK, JGR, 23XI, FRM, JTG) have now won at least once in 2023. That matches the total of different teams that won in 2022, leaving only Stewart-Haas Racing and Legacy Motor Club among 2022-winning teams that have not yet won this season.
- After earning three top-five finishes in six races to open the year, Alex Bowman finally got back into the top five with a fifth-place finish at Indy. It's Bowman's best finish of any kind since his return from a back injury suffered in May, and it also doubles as his first top 10 since then.
- Mitchell, Indiana's Chase Briscoe, like any Indiana native, holds the Indianapolis Motor Speedway near and dear to his heart. And back home again in Indiana, Briscoe earned a sixth-place finish that marks his best result since he ran fourth at Talladega all the way back in April. Briscoe's finish is also his second top 10 since his crew chief change and his sixth overall this season.
- After a seventh-place run, Martin Truex Jr. can now put one hand on the regular season championship. Truex now enjoys a 60-point lead over Denny Hamlin in second, meaning that the regular season title should be his so long as he avoids complete disaster over the next two weeks at Watkins Glen and Daytona.
- The streak is over! After just missing out on another top 10 in 11th, Chris Buescher's streak of consecutive top-10 finishes on a road course now goes into the record books as an eight-race streak. For note-keeping, Mark Martin has the all-time record for consecutive top 10s on a road course with 16.
- After his car failed tech inspection three times on Friday, William Byron not only had to start 39th after not being allowed to qualify, but he also had to serve a pass-through penalty at the very start of the race. Byron would recover to finish 15th, with the absence of cautions making his drive to a top 15 all the more impressive.
- All 39 cars that started Sunday's race, from Michael McDowell in first to Justin Haley in 39th, finished the race. That's the second time in three weeks that's happened in a Cup Series race, as all cars to start were also running at the finish back at Richmond.
Next Race
The penultimate race of the regular season will take place on yet another road course, as the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Watkins Glen International for the Go Bowling at the Glen next Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.
