Michael McDowell

Birthday: 12/21/1984
Hometown: Glendale, AZ , United States

YEAR-BY-YEAR CUP SERIES RECAP

2010 -- Finished 45th in series points. ... Attempted 32 races for two teams, made 24 starts. ... Career-best start, 12th, at Phoenix-1; average start 31.6. ... Best finish, 33rd in Daytona 500; average finish 40.7; completed only 21.1 percent of laps attempted.

2009 -- Finished 52nd in series points. ... Made eight starts for owner Tommy Baldwin while primarily competing in the Nationwide Series, three DNQs for two owners. ... Best start, 18th, at Homestead; average start 38.1. ... Best finish, 38th, at Dover-2; average finish 40.8; completed only 13.6 percent of laps attempted.

2008 -- Finished career-best 40th in series points. ... One DNQ in 21 attempts in Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 00. ... Completed 95.2 percent of laps attempted, led first three laps of career in three separate events. ... Best start, 18th, at Darlington; average start 32.4. ... Career-best finish, 20th, at Richmond-2; average finish 30.2.

PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY

Competed in three NASCAR Nationwide Series races and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in 2007. ... Began go-kart racing at an early age and during almost 10 years of go-karts, racked up the 1997 World Karting Association National Championship, two undefeated International Karting Federation seasons and 18 consecutive main event victories. ... Earned rookie of the year honors in the Star Mazda Series in 2003 and won the series championship in 2004. ... Ran the Koni Challenge Series for Finlay Motorsports in 2004. ... In 2005, co-drove in the Rolex Sports Car Series, winning at Mexico City. ... In 2007, ran the ARCA Series, finishing second in the point standings and leading the series in wins with four.

NOTEWORTHY

In 2005, Michael became the first driver since Mario Andretti in 1975 to run both a major open-wheel race and a sports-car race in the same weekend when he competed in the Rolex Sports Car Series and in a RocketSports Champ Car. ... Won the 2007 ARCA Series Rookie of the Year title as well as the Stewart Warner Lap Leader Award. ... An avid simulation racer, Michael spends, on average, four hours a day driving a computer-racing simulator.