CORNELIUS, N.C. — A year ago Michael McDowell had never raced a stock car. Now he is preparing to embark upon a rookie season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
McDowell, who made his stock-car debut in last February’s ARCA 200 at Daytona Int’l Speedway, will drive the third Michael Waltrip Racing entry in the Cup Series beginning at Martinsville Speedway March 30.
McDowell, who won four ARCA events and finished second in points in his rookie campaign, will take over the wheel of the No. 00 Toyota from David Reutimann when Reutimann moves to the No. 44 UPS Toyota to replace Dale Jarrett, who will retire after the first five events of the season.
McDowell will start the season racing an MWR entry in the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona.
The 23-year-old driver comes from a road-racing background and has competed in Grand Am, ALMS and the Champ Car World Series before transitioning to stock cars last season.
McDowell joined MWR in October, but was surprised he got the job driving the No. 00.
“Michael (Waltrip) said at a press conference last year that I was a candidate for the No. 00 Toyota Camry but said that if I couldn’t get the job done somebody else would,” McDowell said. “Sitting in the audience with the media, I will never forget that. It pushes me even more to be prepared and I’m glad he said it. It’s game time and there is no time to celebrate this opportunity. It’s time to get serious.”
McDowell took advantage of the situation, proving to Waltrip during testing that he was ready for the challenge.
“After testing with Michael (McDowell), I learned firsthand that he is intense, knowledgeable of racing and more importantly he was fast at all of our test sessions,” McDowell said. “Those factors set my mind at ease. I feel like he will do a great job and it is our job to prepare the best cars we can for him and provide the best opportunity to hone his driving talents.”
For McDowell, the trip to the top has been longer than it may appear.
“Even though I am only 23, it feels like I’ve been doing this a long time,” McDowell said. “I started racing professionally in 2003 and I’ve been hard at it ever since. It has not been a long career, but it has been five years of trying to put deals together and trying to make it from one series to the next without having money.”