“ It is such a hard sport ”: Michael McDowell opens with the way in which NASCAR drivers are the most privileged members of a race team
When Alex Bowman expressed his support for a shortened season – not for drivers, but for road teams, many fans did not immediately grasp the weight of his words. He pointed out that crew members have the heaviest charge, often working until 3 am and returning there by 8, week after week, until the season.
In recent months, more drivers have started to echo this feeling, giving a credit where it is due and recognizing that the drilling behind the scenes is among the most difficult in sports. The last to weigh is Michael McDowell.
During a recent appearance on Elvis’ plan Podcast, McDowell talked about the challenges of maintaining a balance between professional and private life. He said his family remained his top priority. Whether he spends overtime to the garage or refines his job on the racetrack, his goal is to perform well and make sure that he can support his family in every way.
To find this balance, McDowell makes it a duty to travel with his family every weekend, taking the best party of their time together. But as he noted, this luxury is not available for crew members, whose demanding hours make much more difficult for them to juggle personal and professional responsibilities.
As McDowell said, “I’m super lucky because being a driver, it allows me to do that [bring his family on the racetracks]. These guys here at the shop – they cannot bring their family, and they lack all these moments. And so it is such a hard sport on the family unit that we have just made a priority that this is how we are going to do it. »»
Often, the crew spends long hours even during the dead season, working behind the scenes to ensure that the car offers the balance and speed of the drivers, with the accelerator neither too tight nor too loose. A shorter season could offer them a certain breathing room and the chance to spend more time with their families. However, as noted by the 2024 NASCAR Cup champion Joey Logano, the idea does not make sense financially.
He explained that the reduction of the season would also mean the reduction of wages unless the teams can justify the change to the sponsors. With fewer breeds, the commitments of the sponsors would probably decrease, which would result in a global contraction of resources at all levels. Thus, while the push for a shorter season wins a moral traction, financial mathematics – as Logano describes – maintains this parked conversation, at least for the moment.
