NASCAR penalty decision questioned as Cup Series driver demands explanation

NASCAR News News Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 4:01 PM ET •By Simmey Hannifin Donaldson

Spire Motorsports star Michael McDowell has questioned NASCAR's decision to penalize him for a false start at Bowman Gray Stadium.

The incident occurred in the 75-lap last chance qualifying race, where McDowell lined up in second alongside Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry.

When the green flag dropped, McDowell was able to get into the lead, running out front for the opening laps of the race before NASCAR decided that he had jumped the start and taken off before Berry had.

Michael McDowell unhappy with NASCAR penalty

As a result of the above, McDowell was sent to the rear of the field with a tail-end penalty, and he went on to finish the race in 11th, missing out on qualifying for the 200-lap main event later in the evening.

Understandably, that frustrated McDowell greatly, particularly given that he feels he did nothing wrong, as was made clear when he spoke to FOX Sports Bob Pockrass post-race.

“The 21 spun his tires,” McDowell said when asked for his viewpoint on the incident.

“He launched in first gear, I launched in second, so he went first, but he spun his tires, and so I was ahead.

“Obviously that part was fairly clear, and at the start-finish line, I was ahead of him, but he launched first; he just spun his tires.

“They're not going to undo it; it’s over now. I knew the start was going to be important. I knew getting the lead was going to be important, and so I tried to maximize as much as I could, and obviously, they thought I maximized it too much.”

Asked if he would talk to NASCAR about it, McDowell revealed he had already made his feelings known: "I've done a lot of talking in the hauler [it's] just it’s not always productive.

“I mean, they'll listen, but they'll still tell you you're wrong. But when I look at the SMT, he hit the gas first, so I don't know exactly what they didn't like and so I want to know that a little bit more.”