Michael McDowell drove to his first NASCAR national touring series victory in Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Road America.
Pole-sitter Alex Tagliani seemed to be the favorite to win his first NASCAR XFINITY Series race, leading 17 laps before spinning out while battling with Erik Jones for the lead. The incident gave McDowell the lead, where he led the final 20 laps. But it didn’t come easy for the Phoenix, Arizona driver; he had to hold off teammate Brendan Gaughan, who was on fresher tires, on the final overtime restart to take the third straight win for Richard Childress Racing at Road America.
McDowell had finished second in the NASCAR XFINITY Series three times and was one of only five mostly full time Sprint Cup drivers who had not won a race in a NASCAR national touring series; the other four are Danica Patrick, Landon Cassill, Cole Whitt, and Josh Wise.
“I’m just so thankful. Very blessed. Thank God first and foremost” McDowell said. “…. All the guys called the right shots. I had track position there when in the end when we needed it. This ECR Chevy was on the rails. It was awesome.
“….We definitely had speed, but Brendan (Gaughan) had new tires and he was obviously fast. He raced me hard. He did a great job. He had an opportunity to get to my bumper there. I drove it in as hard as I could hoping he wouldn’t get there. So thankful to get to victory lane and can’t wait to get to Michigan.”
“It was coming down to the end for both of us,” Gaughan said. “Three years in a row for RCR has won at Road America. I love this race track. I’ve been saying ‘It didn’t matter if it rained or if it was dry.’ I know I’m the guy who wants it wet, but I didn’t care either way. I love this track.”
Brennan Poole finished third and Daniel Suarez ended up fourth. Ryan Reed was part of a last lap incident with Justin Marks and Owen Kelly but recovered to finish fifth. Kelly and Marks finished 17th and 32nd respectively. Tagliani drove back through the field and finished seventh.
With two races left before the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase, things are tightening up. 11th in points Blake Koch holds a 23 point lead on Dakoda Armstrong in 13th, while Ryan Sieg (12th) holds a steady 15 point lead over Armstrong. Meanwhile, Jeremy Clements and Ross Chastain are 35 and 34 points back respectively.
