Michael McDowell sees Chicago, road courses as big chances to win
CHICAGO — With new winners filling up playoff spots and regular-season races running out quickly, Michael McDowell sees a great opportunity in Chicago.
The first of the eight remaining races until the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is at the Chicago Street Course, where Michael McDowell is tied with Ty Gibbs for the best average finish in the series. In 2024, McDowell started third and finished fifth. Then, in 2023, he started sixth and finished seventh with 12 stage points earned.
When it comes to road course racing outside of the Windy City, McDowell is no bag of wind either. In 17 NextGen road course starts, he has nine top 10 finishes. At the last set of left and right turns, in Mexico City, McDowell muscled out a strong top five finish – his fourth in the era on road courses.
After starting fifth, McDowell secured a total of 13 stage points – second only to Ryan Blaney (16) – and finished fifth.
Getting there wasn’t as easy as it sounds. After restarting third in the final stage, an ill-timed caution dropped McDowell to 15th with 32 laps to go. McDowell was so strong that he made up 4.3 seconds on John Hunter Nemechek, passed him for fifth with a few laps to go and finished over two seconds ahead of him.
Mexico City was his first top five finish of the 2025 season. He now has a top five in five consecutive seasons and multiple top 10s in seven consecutive seasons.
“If we keep building here at Spire Motorsports, we’ll get a win. It’s good to be bummed with a top-five finish. I felt like we had more today and hopefully we’ll get a chance to prove that when we get to the upcoming road courses,” McDowell said.
McDowell and Carson Hocevar are setting a new standard for Spire Motorsports. In 18 races, the team has three top fives, seven top 10s, 118 laps led and their first two poles ever – their highest marks in each statline at this point in a Cup season. At this point last season, they had one top five, three top 10s, 41 laps led.
Spire is still looking for their first win in a full-length Cup race but they’re getting closer.
“I am looking forward to Chicago. It is a fun track and hopefully we can get a smooth weekend with no rain. It is a place we have finished in the top five and top 10 a couple of times. And I feel confident going there. Our road course program is getting better each race and I really feel like we are building on something. We still have things to learn but I feel like going into Chicago and Sonoma back-to-back gives us a couple of good opportunities to win and get into the playoffs.”
At Sonoma Raceway in the NextGen era, McDowell’s average finish is fourth. He has finished third, seventh and second in those races.
Four races later and it’s Watkins Glen. In each of the last three years, McDowell has started well, led laps, earned stage points and finished well:
- 2024
- Finished seventh after starting 10th and leading 7 of 90 laps
- 2023
- Won the first stage and led 17 of 90 laps after starting third
- Finished 36th due to an electrical issue
- 2022
- Finished sixth after starting third, earning 11 stage points and leading 14 laps
Sitting 77 points below the cutline and with more new winners possibly looming, the best shot Michael McDowell has at being Spire’s first NASCAR Cup Series playoff driver will be to win either Chicago, Sonoma or Watkins Glen and not have to face Daytona.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com
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