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Michael McDowell stole the show at the 2021 Daytona 500, as he took the checkered flag on Valentine's Day at the Daytona International Speedway.
The track certainly lived up to its unpredictable nature with McDowell's win. The Team Front Row Motorsports driver entered this year's edition of the Great American Race with zero wins in his NASCAR Cup Series career, but somehow found a way to squeak past the favorites like Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, who was gunning for history. Hamlin had won the previous two stagings of the Daytona 500 but failed in his bid to become just the first driver in the race's history to win the event three years in a row.
Going back to Michael McDowell, the unlikeliness of his win is also underscored by the fact that he's now the owner of the longest odds by any winner — at least since 1986 — at the Daytona 500, according to Sports Odds History, as noted by David Purdum of ESPN Chalk.
According to @SOHistory, Michael McDowell, at 100/1, had the longest odds of any Daytona winner since at least 1986. 2011 winner Trevor Bayne was 80-1 at some books.
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) February 15, 2021
McDowell had previously raced 19 times at the Daytona International Speedway and over that span, he had only made the top five just twice. His average finish at the speedway prior to his win was an unimpressive 20.37 clip.
Last year, he finished 14th overall both at the 2020 Daytona 500 and at the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400.
What cued the win for McDowell on Sunday was the huge crash in the final lap of the race, which also involved pre-race favorites Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.
McDowell will look to work his magic next week when the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series continues with the O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 At Daytona.
