Michael McDowell snagged the pole for just the second time in his career, tearing around the 2.66-mile-high banks at a blazing speed of 182.022 mph at Talladega. It really seemed like this might be the race where Ford finally bags its first win of the season. Everything was lining up perfectly until the final laps, when a crash threw a wrench into those plans. Yet, instead of pointing fingers or shrugging it off, McDowell took the high road, accepting full responsibility for the mishap and clearing Brad Keselowski of any blame.

Michael McDowell stepped up and took responsibility for the wild lap at Talladega

In a tense moment during the final laps, his move to block fellow Ford driver Brad Keselowski backfired, causing both to lose their shot at victory as Tyler Reddick zipped past to win. The chaos didn’t end with them; Corey LaJoie‘s car ended up sliding across the finish line on its side, creating a dramatic scene.

In his post-race chat, McDowell reflected on the crash, “I don’t know, I’ve only seen a quick replay on. you guys know Um I’ll have to go back to watch. I mean, obviously, when I moved up the block grad to run to the middle and I pulled back down either, I got loose. Or he just got to my bumper, but I felt like I was clear. Um But here’s the reality of it. I made a bad move and crashed the field. And it’s my responsibility to do a better job. I just need to go back and look at it. It’s the last lap of Talladega, so you’re gonna go for it. I was going for it, but… I wasn’t trying to be… irresponsible. I just felt like I had room to still come down and obviously, I didn’t.”

Despite winding up in 31st place, Michael McDowell didn’t let the disappointment overshadow his pride in his team’s performance. “I got a really fast race mode today. I’m proud of my guys and 38 is really fast and we were there and we were in contention and we did a good job of having speed, major lanes, putting ourselves in a shot to win the race. And I just bumped and didn’t just execute. I didn’t execute during that last lap,” he said.

McDowell also expressed his regrets to his fellow drivers, especially Keselowski, and the others caught up in the aftermath.

#34 driver acknowledged his mistake and apologized to everyone who got involved in the wreck

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Keselowski, who was gunning for a win that’s been elusive since his last triumph at Talladega three years ago, described the incident from his perspective: “We went to make a move and Michael covered it. We went the other way and had nowhere to go when Michael came back down. It’s just the way this stuff goes.”

Reflecting on those critical moments, McDowell admitted, “He pushed me out. I drove back to him and was able to get in front of him that very first time. But when I came back down, I barely wasn’t clear. It’s Talladega. You’re going for it, trying to get a win. We just came up short and took a lot of guys out with me.”

What are your thoughts on that wild final lap? Do you think if that wreck hadn’t happened, Ford could have finally gotten its first win of the season?