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NASCAR at Gateway Starting Lineup: Michael McDowell secures his third pole position of the season

NASCAR: Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter
Credit: Joe Puetz-USA TODAY Sports

The NASCAR Cup Series veteran Michael McDowell is continuing to make a good impression in his 17th season, as he just set himself up for his third pole position of the season at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. 

Record-Breaking Performance at Gateway

On the racetrack, McDowell performed remarkably in his No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, when he recorded a fastest qualifying time of 32.468 seconds, translating to an average of 138.598 mph in the final round of qualifying.

This qualifying session proved McDowell’s talent, as he set a new record in the opening round with a 32.318-second lap. This is a very important achievement for McDowell and his team, which confirms their dominance in the 2024 season.

Austin Cindric qualified second on the starting line with a lap time of 0,109 seconds behind McDowell’s. Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, and Ryan Blaney were the other five fastest drivers.

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McDowell’s Reaction

Speaking to Fox Sports in a post-race interview, the 39-year-old driver expressed his joy. “I was close to messing it up. I had a little moment in Turn 3. I got a little bit loose; I was able to catch it, but luckily, I was able to recover quickly and get back to the throttle.” McDowell said. “I’m so proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports. I know this is our third pole of the year but to do it on a flat track, not a superspeedway, I’m just really proud of everybody. It’s a cool team effort here.”

Competitive Field

Austin Cindric showcased a similar performance, completed the lap in 0.109 of a second behind McDowell’s pole-winning effort, and finished second-best. Next in line were Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Tyler Reddick, respectively, seated in the top five.

Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 will be an interesting race. Last week’s race at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte was cut short by rain, and Christopher Bell, who was the winner, will start from the fourth position and hopes to repeat his victory. Bell’s great performance in qualifying reinforces his status as one of the best drivers this season.

Also Read: 20 richest NASCAR drivers of all time

Kyle Busch’s Challenge

Kyle Busch starting the race at Gateway from the tenth position, has no wins this year, and he would certainly like to change this at the track where he won in 2023. Last year, he was faster than Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano at Gateway, so we can expect a rather interesting race.

Notable Absences in Final Round

Some of the other prominent names that failed to qualify for the final round at Gateway include Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., and Chase Elliott; all these drivers will start today’s race from further behind.

It’s the first time in 2024 that none of the Hendrick Motorsports cars reached the final round of qualification. The last group of cars for the final qualifying consisted of four Toyota cars and five Ford cars, besides Busch’s Chevrolet.

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Anticipated Enjoy Illinois 300

This race could possibly be the last one for McDowell at Front Row Motorsports, as next season he will switch to Spire Motorsports. Front Row Motorsports is planning to become a three-car team in 2025, and that is why McDowell’s pole position means much more.

The race at Gateway is set for Sunday at 3:30 pm on FS1, and it promises to be a hard-fought one. McDowell will start from the front of the grid with many competitive cars and drivers capable of pulling a great performance behind him, and fans are set for a thrilling race.

Also Read: 10 questions all NASCAR fans should know the answers to

Gateway Starting Lineup

  1. Michael McDowell, #34 Ford
  2. Austin Cindric, #2 Ford
  3. Ryan Blaney, #12 Ford
  4. Christopher Bell, #20 Toyota
  5. Tyler Reddick, #45 Toyota
  6. Denny Hamlin, #11 Toyota
  7. Brad Keselowski, #6 Ford
  8. Bubba Wallace, #23 Toyota
  9. Ty Gibbs, #54 Toyota
  10. Kyle Busch, #8 Chevrolet
  11. William Byron, #24 Chevrolet
  12. Joey Logano, #22 Ford
  13. Kyle Larson, #5 Chevrolet
  14. Alex Bowman, #48 Chevrolet
  15. Corey LaJoie, #7 Chevrolet
  16. Ross Chastain, #1 Chevrolet
  17. Chase Elliott, #9 Chevrolet
  18. Austin Dillon, #3 Chevrolet
  19. Martin Truex Jr., #19 Toyota
  20. Carson Hocevar, #77 Chevrolet
  21. Justin Haley, #51 Ford
  22. Erik Jones, #43 Toyota
  23. Chase Briscoe, #14 Ford
  24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., #47 Chevrolet
  25. Derek Kraus, #16 Chevrolet
  26. Chris Buescher, #17 Ford
  27. Noah Gragson, #10 Ford
  28. Daniel Hemric, #31 Chevrolet
  29. Josh Berry, #4 Ford
  30. Harrison Burton, #21 Ford
  31. Daniel Suarez, #99 Chevrolet
  32. Ryan Preece, #41 Ford
  33. John Hunter Nemechek, #42 Toyota
  34. Cody Ware, #15 Ford
  35. Todd Gilliland, #38 Ford
  36. Zane Smith, #71 Chevrolet
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