No. 34 Horizon Hobby Ford Mustang Dark Horse:

Michael McDowell entered the Brickyard 400 as the defending track winner and another Top-10 qualifying effort, his 11th of the season. At the drop of the green flag, McDowell jumped from eighth to fifth and proceeded to keep pace with the leaders. As some of the leaders elected to pit early, McDowell stayed out along with the No. 45, eventually pitting after inheriting the lead and finishing Stage 1 in sixth-place. As Stage 2 began, fuel strategy became the main player for the remainder of the race. When the first caution came out, McDowell pitted from the Top-10, dropping back to the 27th-position and came down pit road a second time to top off fuel, finishing Stage 2 in 28th position. McDowell climbed up to 17th place as the other cars in front were gambling with fuel as well, but the No. 34 team fueled up again dropping him back to 31st. In the closing laps of the race and as cautions bred cautions, the leaders were forced to save or get fuel. McDowell finished the Brickyard 400 in 16th-place.

Start: 8th

Stage One: 6th

Stage Two: 28th

Race Result: 16th

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:

“Frustrating for sure because we had a fast Ford Mustang Dark Horse. We knew track position was going to be important because passing is so hard here. We were able to get stage points in Stage 1, but we just couldn’t put it all together with the fuel strategy in the final stage. We’ll take some much-needed time off these next two weeks and come out of the break hungrier than ever to get a win.”