Hometown: Glendale, Arizona

Birthday: December 21, 1981

Michael McDowell’s racing career began at a young age in Glendale, Ariz. He started racing BMX at three, eventually transitioning to karting, where he dominated the tracks, winning 18 consecutive feature races and earning multiple championships. McDowell moved to open-wheel racing in the early 2000s, claiming success in the Formula Renault and Star Mazda Championships. At 22, he shifted to stock car racing, joining the ARCA Menards Series. In 2007, McDowell had an impressive rookie season, winning four races, nine pole positions and claiming Rookie of the Year honors. Following his time in the ARCA Menards Series, McDowell spent the 2007 season running part time in NASCAR’s CRAFTSMAN Truck and Xfinity Series. During the 2008 season, McDowell earned his first Cup Series start with Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) at Martinsville Speedway, the start of his lengthy and accomplished 17-year career. McDowell’s career took a major step in 2018 when he joined Front Row Motorsports. His breakthrough moment came in 2021 when he won the Daytona 500, marking his first-ever Cup Series victory after 358 starts. He later added a win at the 2023 Verizon 200 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With over 500 Cup Series starts, McDowell has accumulated two wins and six pole positions. Off the track, McDowell is dedicated to his Christian faith, family, and charitable causes. He resides in North Carolina with his wife, Jami and their five children.

Hometown: West Bend, Wisconsin

Birthday: May 10, 1991

Travis Peterson, 34, is a team leader in the NASCAR Cup Series garage and serves as crew chief for Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for veteran driver Michael McDowell. Peterson led McDowell to a pair of pole positions, three top-five and six top-10 finishes in 2025 to round out his first season at the helm of the organization’s No. 71 Chevrolet.

Peterson’s first season as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier division came in 2023 where he was first paired with McDowell at Front Row Motorsports where the potent duo were quick to see success. Over the 2023-2024 seasons, the Peterson-McDowell combination earned one win, four top fives,15 top 10s, and a series-high six pole positions in 2024. Their first season together was highlighted with a win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.

Before stepping into the leading role, Peterson built his resume as an engineer in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Cup Series. He worked in an engineering role for the No. 17 and No. 6 entries at RFK Racing with drivers Chris Buescher and Ryan Newman over the 2018-2022 seasons. Prior to his time at RFK Racing, Peterson worked as race engineer for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Alex Bowman, where both drivers combined for three wins.

Peterson played a key role at JR Motorsports in 2014 when he served as an engineer for the team’s No. 9 entry for driver Chase Elliott who went on to earn NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship honors on the strength of two poles, three wins, 16 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes across 33 races.

Peterson began his professional journey as an intern at Joe Gibbs Racing while earning a mechanical engineering degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, graduating as part of the 2012 class.

Last season, Peterson and McDowell earned the most points in team history (734) and pole positions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the spring and Talladega Superspeedway in the fall. Additionally, the Peterson-led No. 71 operation raced its way to Spire Motorsports’ first stage win in July at the Chicago Street Race.