by While running in Chicago, Michael McDowell showed a White Sox color scheme and found out just how big the rivalry between the Cubs is.
“I had a fan who was a Cubs fan,” says Michael McDowell. “He wanted me to sign autographs because he had a bunch of cards and stuff like that. So I signed a bunch of cards and said, ‘Hey, do you want to take a picture?’ And he was like, ‘No, I can’t take a picture of you wearing that.'”
McDowell loves the Road America road course and would like to return to the NASCAR Cup Series in addition to the Chicago road course race.
“So, I love Road America,” McDowell says. “It’s one of my favorite race tracks. And it always has been, even before I got into NASCAR. It’s always been one of my favorite tracks. So I’m biased. I mean, I think we have room for both, right? They’re great facilities. But you have to remember that a road course at Road America is so different compared to a street course in downtown Chicago because we want to accomplish what we want to accomplish, right? Bringing the racing to the city and to the fans is important that we continue to try to do that in different regions and areas because it exposes so many people to our sport that wouldn’t otherwise see it.”
Watch: NASCAR’s Michael McDowell shares his love for Road America and his Christian faith
NASCAR driver Michael McDowell shares his love for Road America and his Christian faith
McDowell is strong in his Christian faith. That doesn’t make him perfect, but he’s forgiven for how he handles mistakes in a tough sport where physical contact is a hot topic.
“If you’re a professing Christian, you’re always going to get a little bit of criticism,” McDowell says. “You’re a hypocrite for hitting that guy. And I say, no, no. This is a contact sport. If I played professional football. And I was an offensive lineman or on defense, my job would be to hit you as hard as I can. And racing isn’t like that. But in the same spirit? You’re fighting for your race team. You’re fighting for your career. You’re fighting for your family. And contact isn’t dirty. You’re asking guys who are putting their lives on the line and racing as hard as they can to be super-behaved. And I don’t think you’re all going to be super-behaved.”
After 7 seasons, Michael McDowell is also going through his own changes. He is leaving Front Row Motorsports and moving to Spire Motorsports on a multi-year contract.
