To run in the top-five in a driver’s first-ever ARCA RE/MAX Series event is a tough task. Every first-timer hopes to have that opportunity, but few are able to go right out onto the track and run with the best of the best in the tough ARCA series. For Michael McDowell, however, the chances were not only good to be able to run in the top-five, the young driver was able to succeed in that goal as well on Sunday.
McDowell made his debut as part of Eddie Sharp Racing in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Sunday afternoon at the Milwaukee Mile (WI). McDowell and the ESR team set forth a goal for the rookie driver in the Governor’s Cup 200 to run competitively and complete all the laps.
The competitive part of the goal was met and exceeded. McDowell raced hard to fourth for much of the early stages of the race. Unfortunately around mid-race, other drivers racing for a top-10 position with McDowell left the rookie no place to go, relegating the #2 Z-Line Designs/Southern New Hampshire University Dodge to a 34th-place finish.
The result may not have been exactly what McDowell and the ESR team were hoping for going into Milwaukee, but their goals were met on several different other levels, giving the driver and the team plenty of motivation as they head into the rest of the ARCA schedule.
"I had high expectations going into this race," said McDowell. "I knew I had a good car, and I knew the team worked real hard for this race. I came into a program ready to win, so I was fully expecting to run in the top-10 today. We hadgood pit stops and moved into the top-five and stayed there. That showed that we could run up front. Even though we didn’t get the finish we wanted, I’ll go into my next race at Chicago now knowing what things are going to be like."
The Governor’s Cup 200 at Milwaukee may have been McDowell’s first race weekend in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, but he looked more like a savvy veteran than a rookie in his first days at the track with Eddie Sharp Racing. McDowell was fast right off the trailer, putting together strong laps in practice on Saturday.He qualified the #2 Dodge 14th for Sunday’s race, but from the drop of the green flag McDowell showed that he could get the job done in this series.
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"We had a really good run at the start. The car was really good and I was just pacing myself at the beginning not knowing how the race was going to go. We raced our way into the top-10 solidly. Then, after a couple of rounds of pit stops, we were up into the top five. The car was good and we could run there with the leaders.
"Then, for some reason, we developed a fuel pickup problem under one of those cautions and I ran out of fuel. I made it back to pit lane and got back going again. We came back out, and I think we were still running in the top-15 when two guys got together ahead of me. Bobby Gerhart got pushed into the wall and came off the wall into me. Since I was already there, it was chaos after that. It tore it up bad enough that we couldn’t keep going, but all in all we had a solid weekend and I’m looking forward to Chicago to hopefully finish where we’re capable of finishing."
Team owner Eddie Sharp has seen plenty of young talent make their way into the ARCA RE/MAX Series, but he left Milwaukee knowing that one of the next great talents in the sport made an impact in his first series start on Sunday.
"It’s a pleasure to work with professionals like Michael," said Sharp. "He’s a young kid that already has a lot of racing experience, but with more experience he’s going to go a long way. I know the quality of the racecars, and I knew that just being smart was going to put you in a spot to finish well. Our goal for Michael today was to run all the laps, but because of somebody else’s aggression, he was a victim. You can’t beat yourself up too bad when you’re running in the top-five and you get taken out by someone else’s aggression."
McDowell will be back behind the wheel of the Z-Line Design/Southern New Hampshire University Dodge for Eddie Sharp Racing on September 9th at Chicagoland Speedway.
For more information on Michael McDowell and Eddie Sharp Racing, contact Matt Kentfield at (704) 455-2051 and be sure to visit www.eddiesharpracing.net. |
MILWAUKEE QUALIFYING
Michael Qualifies 15th in his ARCA Racing Debut
WEST ALLIS WI (August 26, 2006) - Michael McDowell, in his stock car racing debut, qualified his Z-Line Design/Southern New Hampshire University Dodge 15th in a field of 43 cars for the Governor's Cup 200 at the famous Milwaukee Mile.
"With only an hour of scheduled practice that got cut off due to weather, I was left with little track time.", McDowell said. "The car is really good in race trim and I'm looking to work the #2 car into the top 10." |
McDowell, who comes from a diverse racing background, will be making his stock car debut this weekend, as well as his debut with the team in the first of five scheduled events to complete the 2006 season.
"This is a great opportunity that came available when the previous driver left the team," said the 21-year-old McDowell. "The team has been running strong all year long; the seat was available and it was an opportunity for me to get some experience in stock car racing. There is no better place to get that experience than the ARCA RE/MAX Series."
The first opportunity for the team to excel and gel together will come this weekend with the Governor’s Cup 200. ESR Teammate Ryan Mathews is from Wisconsin and has had many laps around The Milwaukee Mile, so McDowell hopes to use that to his advantage.
"I have been hanging around the last couple of weeks and talked with all of the guys," added McDowell. "Ryan is from Wisconsin and knows Milwaukee pretty well, and I have just been trying to get as much information from him and the rest of the team as I can before we get out there. These guys have been running all year and they all have been running really well. I am just trying to utilize them as much as possible."
When McDowell walks into the infield at The Milwaukee Mile it will be his first time he sees the track. Despite not having experience in an ARCA car, he is excited about the opportunity and taking every available chance to prepare himself for the race.
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"I am really excited about going to Milwaukee. It is going to be pretty interesting for me; it will be the first time that I have done anything like this; it will be a learning experience, but I feel pretty good about it. We are doing some testing at Hickory Motor Speedway in order for the team and I to get some practice in before the race and I think that we should be able to do pretty well. We have good equipment and it should be a good race for the team."
Team owner Eddie Sharp is looking forward to having McDowell as one of the racers in his driver development program.
"I am extremely excited to have Michael come and join our team," said Sharp. "He has all of the credentials that one has to have in order to be successful in stock car racing. From what I have seen him dobehind the wheel of a race car, I know that he is racer. And that is the kind of person that I want involved with my company, a racer.
"But we are managing our expectations. We are going into this weekend to gain experience and to earn respect from the other racers. We are going to take our time to build this; this is for the long term, not the short term. We are going to go to Milwaukee, qualify solidly, and run all of the laps, finish the race and build for the future. That is our goal."
The Governor’s Cup 200 at The Milwaukee Mile will take the green flag at 3pm local time on Sunday August 27th. Pork Pole Qualifying takes place on Saturday the 26th at 5:15pm.
For more information on Michael McDowell and the Eddie Sharp Racing team, contact Matt Kentfield at (704) 455-2051 and be sure to visit www.eddiesharpracing.net |
