By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
In this week’s edition of Flashback Friday, Kickin’ The Tires relives when Michael McDowell won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Road America 180 at Elkhart Lake’s Road America on August 27, 2016.
Michael McDowell drove his No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing to his first win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series after he was able to pull away from his teammate Brendan Gaughan and hold on to the race lead.
(Photo: Jonathan Ferrey/NASCAR via Getty Images)
McDowell edged Gaughan by 0.534 seconds in overtime to score the victory which came in his 296th race across NASCAR’s three national series.
“Today was a great day to check off the list”, said McDowell post-race.
McDowell had come close to driving into victory lane at the track located in Wisconsin’s Elkhart Lake, but it was never in the cards, until the 2016 event played out perfectly.
In his five starts at the 4.048-mile road course, McDowell has never qualified outside of the Top-5 and before he found victory lane.
Prior to his win, the Cup Series regular’s best finish on the course was a second-place result while piloting the No. 18 Pizza Ranch Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2012.
The 2012 event was a race McDowell dominated most of the afternoon before losing the lead on the second of three attempts at a green-white checkered finish in overtime.
“I’ve been so close here at Road America a few years, just to finally finish it off and close it off was huge,” McDowell said.
Career Update:
Michael McDowell hasn’t raced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since his victory at Road America in 2016.
However, he continues to be in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series full-time. McDowell currently pilots the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports.
In 2019, the Phoenix Arizona native has a best finish of fifth coming in the season opener from Daytona International Speedway in February.
Overall, heading into next Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway, McDowell has earned one Top-5, one Top-10, three Top-15s, and seven Top-20 finishes on the season thus far and sits 28th in the driver standings.