Michael McDowell wins first career pole award after 467 starts ahead of Ambetter Health 400

The new Mustang Dark Horse and the alliance with Team Penske is already paying off in a big way. Michael McDowell won the Indy Road Course race last season. Now, he looks like he is ready to get himself another superspeedway victory with all of this speed.

The Ford camp has been so fast in qualifying this year. Is it the new car, a new approach to these drafting tracks? I’m not sure. But we have a long season to figure it all out.

Michael McDowell beats Joey Logano for the pole

Another week and another FRM x Team Penske front row. In fact, all five drivers from these two organizations made the final round of qualifying. That is dominance, even in a small sample size.

Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Austin Dillon were the only non-Ford drivers in the final round. There were no Toyotas in the top-10 of qualifying at Atlanta.

Michael McDowell is entering his prime. He has yet to turn 40 years old and with Front Row Motorsports becoming a Tier 1 program with Ford Performance, he’s already turning heads. Again, I don’t think we should overlook his teammate Todd Gilliland, either. The 23-year-old is still young and has a lot to prove.

The last two seasons have been incredibly competitive in the Cup Series. However, with the rise of FRM and other programs early on this year, that parity is only going to increase in 2024.