Video: Michael McDowell's Motor Expires on Lap 23 at Daytona

Michael McDowell will not follow up his 2021 Daytona 500 win with a win in Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.

On lap 23, the powerplant inside the No. 34 machine gave up.

As smoke billowed under McDowell’s ride, he coasted back to the garage to end his day.

No repeat at @Daytona for @Mc_Driver.

Michael McDowell's motor blows up. We'll see the Daytona 500 winner next weekend at @TooToughToTame as he gets ready for the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/sz3JIduTLj

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 29, 2021

This DNF for McDowell is just his second DNF at Daytona International Speedway in his last 14 races at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Luckily, by virtue of his Daytona 500 win, McDowell was already locked into the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin next week.

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Toby Christie

Toby is the Founder, and Editor-in-Chief of TobyChristie.com. Toby is also the co-host of The Final Lap Weekly Podcast. Additionally, he is an award-winning writer, and has followed the sport as a fan since 1993.