Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Unveil Patriotic Coca-Cola 600 Paint Scheme

Spire Motorsports and Michael McDowell, the driver of the team's No. 71 Chevrolet, unveiled a special patriotic Delaware Life paint scheme on Thursday, in a special event at the Spire Motorsports race shop in Mooresville, NC.

The No. 71 Chevrolet will honor Delaware Life and Group 1001 employees and family members who have served in the military, and Veterans 1001 will be the focal point on the hood of the race car.

"It's awesome. Like you said, the car turned out awesome, and I'm not just saying it because I'm driving it. But very patriotic, it stands out," McDowell said in an interview with Racing America after the paint scheme unveiling. "Really thankful to Delaware Life for allowing us to do this, and really everybody at Group 1001. There's a tremendous amount of veterans who work at Delaware Life and Group 1001, and we get to honor them on the hood. As well as having a fallen soldier on the windshield and the door."

In addition to the tribute to the veterans, who work at Delaware Life and Group 1001, which will be included on the hood of the race car around the Veterans 1001 logo, the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team will also pay tribute to Specialist James Waters, whose name will be displayed on the windshield banner of McDowell's car as part of the NASCAR 600-Miles of Remembrance program.

Waters, who enlisted in the United States Army after High School, served as an infantry gunner and was stationed at Fort Drum. Waters was killed in the line of duty in an IED attack in Afghanistan four months into deployment.

Following Waters' passing, his older brother and two younger brothers chose to serve their country; two went on to serve as infantrymen, while the other became a medic.

For McDowell, 40, he knows the Coca-Cola 600 will be his most grueling test behind the wheel all season long, but the meaning of Memorial Day weekend, and the tributes on his car alone, help keep his mind focused on what living in America is all about.

"You know, it's one of those weekends that puts everything in perspective," McDowell explained. "It's a tough day, but when you see all of the pre-race activities and you meet all of the families of these fallen soldiers, it just puts everything in perspective. And so, thankful to be able to honor a lot of men and women this Memorial Day weekend, and trying to do our best on the racetrack as well."

McDowell heads into the NASCAR All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway carrying a decent amount of momentum.

McDowell led 10 laps and finished 11th at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27. The racer and his team followed the strong Talladega effort up with a near-win at Texas Motor Speedway.

The Arizona native led 19 laps in the final Stage of the race, and with just four laps to go in regulation, McDowell was attempting to hold off Joey Logano for his third career NASCAR Cup Series win.

Unfortunately, Logano would get by McDowell, and a lap later, McDowell would crash into the outside wall after the disturbance of air from behind Logano's car, and the car of Ryan Blaney would cause his car to get loose.

McDowell would finish 26th, but that wasn't indicative of how well he ran throughout the race.

This past week, McDowell came home 23rd at Kansas Speedway.

The speed they carried at Texas and Kansas, which are 1.5-mile intermediate ovals like Charlotte Motor Speedway, has encouraged McDowell that he can contend in the Coca-Cola 600.

"Well, we have high expectations in particular because we've had so much speed at our mile-and-a-halfs this year," McDowell said. "Obviously, Carson and I both have a pole at mile-and-a-halfs, and we've qualified well. And so, we have speed in our cars. And you know, going from Texas to Kansas to now Charlotte, we feel like we are building momentum and confidence in our package and what we need to do in fine-tuning that. So, going into it really optimistic just because of the speed we've had."

Watch Michael McDowell and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team chase a victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 25. That race will be televised on the Prime Video streaming service, the first of five NASCAR Cup Series events on Prime Video. The official race broadcast will kick off at 6:00 PM ET.

Photo Credit: Spire Motorsports