As it tends to happen on superspeedways, Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega came down to the final lap.
And coming out of Turn 4, it was pole-sitter Michael McDowell leading the field as he had done for 36 laps throughout Sunday’s race. McDowell had control of the race until Brad Keselowski, running second at the time, shot up the racetrack and then back down, looking to get past McDowell. That prompted McDowell to go for the double block, a move which didn’t pay off. McDowell failed to clear Keselowski on the bottom, spinning back towards the wall and collecting the bulk of the field with him. Tyler Reddick capitalized on McDowell’s spin, accelerating past Keselowski to pick up the win.
Denny Hamlin, speaking on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast, questioned McDowell’s strategy of attempting to swerve across lanes to block Keselowski.
“I mean, it always comes down to a bad block,” Hamlin said. “It’s just what we talk about every superspeedway, and it usually starts with whoever’s leading the race. I just never have been successful being able to swerve eight lanes across the track, especially on the last lap. No one’s going to lift. So, I’m watching and I’m seeing Michael swerve, you know, from the top to the bottom. It’s like, you know what’s going to happen here because even if you are clear of the 6 [Keselowski], he’s not going to check up.
“So, he has a run coming and when you swerve across the lanes, he’s just going to end up spinning you out from behind. He seemed like he was barely clear and it just kind of swiped across the back, so it wasn’t an abrupt hit. But I just don’t see how the success rate of that is going to work out. Even if you are clear, that person is not going to lift. And they’re coming at a rate of speed that is going to spin you out. … What happened was like a 100% chance of happening.”
Michael McDowell apologizes to drivers involved in last lap wreck after GEICO 500 at Talladega
McDowell’s No. 34 Ford didn’t make it across the start finish line. He came away with a disappointing P31 result. Speaking with Regan Smith of FOX Sports after being checked out of the infield care center, McDowell apologized to his fellow drivers involved in the last lap wreck.
“It’s just super unfortunate,” McDowell said. “I just hate it for everyone on this Love’s Ford Mustang and I hate it for Brad, too. We did a good job of keeping those Mustangs up front and he did everything right. He pushed me out, I drove back to him, and I was able to get in front of him that very first time but when I came back down, just barely wasn’t clear. I’ll have to watch the replay but that’s what I remember from it.
“So, I hated that we didn’t make it to the finish line. We had such a fast Mustang today and it’s unfortunate. It’s been a rough few weeks but it’s the last lap at Talladega. Going for it, trying to get a win and just came up short. Hate that I took a lot of guys with me, so I apologize to Brad and everybody that got collected in that.”
More must-reads: