TAMPA, Fla. — When Michael McDowell squeaked through a fiery crash to win last year’s Daytona 500, he was in disbelief. After spending most of his career as a relative unknown, he had become the champion of the NASCAR Cup Series’ biggest race.
As the days moved on and the celebration faded, McDowell noticed a different, strange feeling. Relief. Fourteen years of pent-up pressure from 357 consecutive winless starts had disappeared.
“I didn’t even know I was carrying that until it was gone,” McDowell said recently in a Zoom session with Florida-based reporters.
