Michael McDowell has delivered for Spire Motorsports. He has secured the organization's first-ever start from the pole.
McDowell achieved this feat Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He posted the fastest lap of the session at 28.883 seconds. This beat out Joey Logano, who qualified second with a lap of 28.898 seconds.
According to Seth Eggert of Motorsports Reference, this is also the first time since Dave Marcis in 1981 that the No. 71 will start a Cup Series race from the pole.
Our 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 NCS Pole in 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.@Mc_Driver | @GainbridgeSport pic.twitter.com/LjmWjxDbD5
— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) March 15, 2025
MORE: McDowell wins pole, full starting lineup here.
"I'm just really proud of everybody at Spire Motorsports," McDowell said during a Saturday press conference. "We're building something, and we know that.
"And that's kind of the mindset that we have. This is just one of those next steps that help us get to the next step that'll help us get to the next step."
Austin Cindric (28.909) and Kyle Busch (28.933) secured spots on the second row for Sunday's Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Erik Jones (28.934), Alex Bowman (28.936), Josh Berry (28.939), William Byron (28.944), Zane Smith (28.946), and Kyle Larson (28.950) all qualified inside the top 10.
Ryan Blaney was the only driver who failed to take part in qualifying on Saturday afternoon. He blew a tire during practice and spun into the outside wall. The team repaired the car but had to do so while the other drivers in the field battled for the pole win.
Starting from the pole is nothing new for McDowell. He did so six times last season while driving for Front Row Motorsports. However, he and crew chief Travis Peterson made the move to Spire Motorsports this season to help the organization continue building.
Winning the pole was part of this process, but McDowell and Peterson remain in pursuit of so much more. This includes a win in a Spire Motorsports car, the first for the organization for the team since Justin Haley's rain-shortened Daytona win in 2019.
Will McDowell and Peterson deliver this win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway? That remains unknown. However, this 1.5-mile track is not one where McDowell has achieved success throughout his career.
He has 22 starts at Las Vegas with no top-10 finishes and seven DNFs. His best finishes were 17th in 2021 and 2023.