Kevin Harvick took some time following Sunday’s GEICO 500 to weigh in on the massive wreck caused by Michael McDowell on the final lap.
Prior to the race, Harvick spoke about Ford’s need for a win on Sunday. That didn’t come to fruition due to the wreck stemming from the No. 34’s block on Brad Keselowski. Harvick didn’t hold back when it came to that moment, trying to make sense of what was going through McDowell’s mind.
“I guess since we’ve already talked about the winner, we can just talk about how he became the winner. Michael McDowell’s block. We talked going into the weekend, I felt like the Fords needed, somebody from the Ford camp, needed to win this race. Michael McDowell and his team had their car on the front row, Austin Cindric beside him. So Ford came with the speed, to be able to do what they needed to do,” Harvick started, via the latest episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. “It turned into this weird, terrible fuel mileage race. Four seconds off the pace, saving gas. They’d race at the end of the stage. So a lot of different agendas, as we went throughout the day. But at the end of the race, the Ford showed up at the front of the pack, with McDowell, Brad Keselowski, Noah Gragson.
“That last block, I think Michael McDowell was going to spin out on his own. I really think, as he came down to make the second block down the racetrack, you know I think that it was just a — I heard him talk about, saying he thought he was clear. He might have been clear, but as aggressively as he pulled that car down and had to pull it back to the right, it was going to, it looked like it was going to spin out regardless. So I think he knew that that was probably his shot. They haven’t had the speed that they had last year, in my opinion. They’ve done a good job with their cars and, you know, I feel like this was their shot to go to victory lane, and he knew that. But there’s never anything good that comes from the second block usually.”
Evidently, Harvick believes the ill-advised block stemmed from desperation for the No. 34, as McDowell’s team needs a win to make the playoffs in 2024.
“I think they know that they had to win,” Harvick added. “I don’t think that they can compete to win on a mile and a half or short track right now. They just don’t have the speed in that car, that they had last before. The Fords in general, don’t have the speed on those other racetracks, that they had last year. They had the speed this weekend, but it still wasn’t, I didn’t feel like as dominant as, the position that they were in in Daytona. When you look at the the No. 22 car, and how Joey Logano controlled the race at Daytona, until he got wrecked. They controlled that race, and I didn’t feel like they controlled this race, like they did at the beginning of the year at Daytona. So a little bit different.
“I think when you go from Daytona to Talladega, you know the variance in the decisions that you have to make from a drag, speed, ride quality standpoint, there’s less of it, because of of it being Talladega and there’s less handling involved. So yeah, you know, I think Michael knew he had to make it happen. And you know, he was he was close to doing that. I think he got out a little too far there at the end, and let Brad get clear that P2 car. You just never know how that that’s going to work out, as you’re as you’re getting that close to the finish line.”
Alas, Michael McDowell will still always be one of the favorites on road courses, but he was part of the reason Ford didn’t win on Sunday in Talladega, regardless of how apologetic he was for his mistake.
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