FRM Dover Weekend Recap: McDowell Finishes 25th and Alfredo 28th

The NASCAR Cup Series headed to Dover International Speedway on Sunday, while the Truck Series had the weekend off.

 

Michael McDowell and his No. 34 RevolveFinance.com Ford Mustang brought home a 25th-place finish.

 

Anthony Alfredo and his No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford Mustang crossed the finish line in the 28th position.

 

The No. 34 RevolveFinance.com Ford Mustang of Michael McDowell started Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway from the 21st position.

 

Early in Stage 1, McDowell would tell the team that his race car was “free on entry, tight in the middle and good on exit” and would be scored in the 22nd position at the Competition Caution, to which he would pit for 4 tires and fuel. Shortly after the pit stop, McDowell would radio to the team to say “my brakes will pump up and then go to the floor” and would return to pit road for the team to inspect the issue. As racing continued, McDowell noted that his brake troubles had gone away, however others drivers would also begin reporting the same issue and McDowell would go on to finish Stage 1 from the 25th position. During the Stage 1 Caution, McDowell would bring his No. 34 RevolveFinance.com Ford Mustang to pit road 4 tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment after reporting that his race car had built loose on exit of the corners.

 

In Stage 2, McDowell would pit under caution on Lap 170 for 4 tires and fuel as he noted that his race car was free to start the second Stage, but then started to tighten up as the track began to widen and would go on to take the second green-white-checkered flag from the 25th position. During the Stage Break Caution, the No. 34 RevolveFinance.com Ford Mustang pitted for 4 tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.

 

The Final Stage of Sunday’s Drydene 400 would see a total of three caution flags, to which McDowell would pit during the first one on Lap 301 for 4 tires and fuel and would then stay on-track for the remaining two (Lap 314 and Lap 325) to regain track position and would take the checkered flag from the 25th position.

 

 

“It was a hard fought day for our No. 34 RevolveFinance.com team at Dover. The Monster Mile wasn’t very kind to us, but that’s just racing; you’ll have your good weekends and you’ll have your not so good ones. I felt like race our car was pretty decent on the long run, but with the amount of lengthy green flag runs that we had, there weren’t a whole lot of opportunities for us to make the necessary adjustments that we needed to keep up with the changing track conditions that Dover goes through.

 

“I really appreciate RevolveFinance.com for coming on board with us for their first primary race in the NASCAR Cup Series and hopefully we’ll have them back on the car soon.

 

“We have a big week ahead of us as we get ready to head to COTA and I can’t wait to be back on a road course for the second time this season. Hopefully we’ll be able to get our No. 34 Ford Mustang back in Victory Lane on Sunday.”

Anthony Alfredo and the No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford Mustang team finished 28th in Sunday’s 400-lap race at Dover. And, although it wasn’t a top finish for the team, Alfredo brought the car home under the checkered flag to best his fellow rookie competitor to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Race award.

 

The race for Alfredo was defined by two moments. The first was the opening 35 laps of the race before a Competition Caution. Alfredo just went one lap down by early leader Kyle Larson who was setting a torrid pace. With Alfredo going a lap down early, it handicapped him with track position for the remainder for the race.

 

Alfredo spent the majority of the Stage 1 and 2 on his own lap and racing 26th or 27th. And, because Alfredo was on his own lap, he couldn’t advance position- even as he was running fast laps throughout the race. Alfredo was able to pass cars inside the top-25, but wasn’t able to move up the leaderbaord.

 

The second moment that defined the team’s outcome was on Lap 315 when Alfredo was spun into the inside wall. Alfredo did an amazing job of minimizing the damage to his Speedy Cash Ford and the team made quick repairs on pit road. Alfredo only lost a couple of laps, but didn’t lose much in track position.

 

Alfredo made sure the car made it to the checkered flag and salvaged his day with the 28th-place result.

 

“It was an unfortunate day for us. We had a fast SpeedyCash.com Ford Mustang. The guys worked hard to get the car better. We were having a good run, developing our notebook, but got turned on a restart and we spun into the inside wall. There was no reason for that and it’s frustrating. We got back out there and finished 28th. The team doesn’t quit and we’ll move onto COTA.”