Michael Christopher McDowell (born December 21, 1984)[1] is an American professional stock car racing driver.

He moved to stock car racing in 2006 and his first Cup Series season came in 2008, the latter of which saw him attract attention for a violent qualifying crash at Texas Motor Speedway.

However, after losing his ride at Michael Waltrip Racing, much of McDowell's Cup career in the following years was with smaller teams, oftentimes as a start and park driver.

Then, when McDowell was eight years old, he moved to karting with help from his mother Tracy, his father Bill, and his older brother Billy, who were all avid race fans.

McDowell would be picked up by Champ Car team Rocketsports for Surfer's Paradise and Mexico City, but decided to move on in 2005 to the Grand-Am Cup Series.

In 2005, McDowell would stay at Finlay, but moved up to the Rolex Sports Car Series, joining veteran Memo Gidley in a BMW powered Riley sponsored by the Make A Wish Foundation.

McDowell returned to the series for the 2012 24 Hours of Daytona, driving for Michael Shank Racing with drivers Jorge Goncalvez, Felipe Nasr, and Gastavo Yacamán.

2 Dodge for five races of the 2006 season, starting with the Governor's Cup 200 at the Milwaukee Mile, where he scored a 34th-place finish.

McDowell was involved in controversy at Toledo Speedway when his ESR teammate, Ken Butler III spun him late in the race.

McDowell started 34th and finished 26th in his Sprint Cup debut, the Goody's Cool Orange 500, after a flat tire near the end of the race.

00 Toyota Camry Sprint Cup car in favor of veteran NASCAR driver Mike Skinner for three races.

McDowell's contract was not renewed by MWR for 2009 when Michael Waltrip decided not to retire and the team did not have a sponsorship for another car.

While performing a qualifying attempt for the 2008 Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 4, 2008, McDowell had an accident that was strikingly similar to that of another racer with a road-racing background, Gordon Smiley, who died in a crash during Indianapolis 500 time trials in 1982.

McDowell's right front sway bar broke entering Turn 1, which caused the car to hit the SAFER barrier almost head-on at approximately 185 miles per hour (298 km/h), according to data obtained and reported by SPEED channel (185 mph to zero mph in one foot, as reported by SPEED's Bob Dillner, before accelerating in the other direction).

On February 25, 2009, McDowell's first child, Trace Christopher, was born, named after Michael's late mother, Tracy.

The baby boy was 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and born at 7:00 a.m. McDowell next attempted the April 2009 race at Talladega for Prism Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series, as a regular driver Dave Blaney had a family obligation.

[12] At the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, on lap 64, Greg Biffle came up on Ryan Newman's front bumper, turning him into the outside retaining wall.

The team merged with Circle Sport in 2016 and switched to Chevrolet, with McDowell splitting the schedule with Ty Dillon with sponsorship from Thrivent Financial, Cheerios, and WRL Contractors among others.

McDowell completed 99 percent of the laps in 2017, the most among any full-time driver in the Cup Series that season, and finished a career-best 26th in the standings.

McDowell would have a strong run in the 2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 leading 20 laps, a career-best, and would finish second in stage 2 behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

McDowell would later tie his best finish in the cup series points standings of 26th after leading laps at his final race of the season in Homestead.

"[16] During qualifying for the 2019 TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway, McDowell had an on-track incident with Daniel Suárez, which resulted in a fight on pit road.

[17] Two days before the 2019 Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, McDowell was rushed to the hospital after complaining of abdominal failure.

McDowell would set a career-best for most top 15s in a season in just 16 races with 6 and has finished higher than his qualifying efforts 15 of his 20 starts.

During the All-Star Open at Bristol Motor Speedway, McDowell would win the pole and run up front most of the day before an on-track incident with driver Bubba Wallace which led to an angry interview from Wallace, as well as leaving the front bumper of his car by McDowell's garage.

[20] He won the season-opening Daytona 500 after avoiding a crash involving the leaders Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski on the final lap.

McDowell would follow this performance by a strong 7th-place finish at the inaugural cup series race at Circuit of the Americas after early contact with Martin Truex Jr. McDowell's win at Daytona locked him into the All-Star Race and the NASCAR playoffs for the first time in his 14-year cup series career.

On July 26, crew chief Blake Harris was suspended for four races and fined US$100,000 for an L2 Penalty during post-race inspection after the 2022 M&M's Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono.

On May 8, 2024, McDowell announced he would leave FRM at the end of the 2024 season and he had signed a multi-year contract with Spire Motorsports to drive the No.

* Season still in progress 1 Ineligible for series points (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.