He won the season-opening Daytona 500 after avoiding a crash involving the leaders Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski on the final lap. Before his big victory, McDowell had one of the longest streaks of races before his first win; it was his first career win in his 358th career start, second only to Michael Waltrip, whose first win came in his 463rd start. He would go on to finish the first 3 races of the season inside the top 10. McDowell also nearly won at Talladega in the spring, finishing a close third behind Keselowski and Byron. McDowell would follow this performance by a strong 7th place finish at the inaugural cup series race at Circuit of the Americas after early contact with Martin Truex Jr. McDowell’s win at Daytona locked him into the All-Star Race, the NASCAR playoffs, and the 2022 Clash, all for the first time in his 14 year cup series career.