Xfinity: Michael McDowell Scores First Win at Road America

Michael McDowell won his first career race in a nationally touring NASCAR division by holding off his teammate in the final laps at Road America.

The final road course of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season is always the trickiest, as the young guns of stock car racing take on the tricky turns of the four-mile Road America. With one dry and one wet race so far this season on the lefts and rights, teams were preparing for anything that could happen in the Road America 180. In the end, what happened was a first-time winner, as Michael McDowell drove to victory lane.

Going into the 45-lap event, Team Penske’s Alex Tagliani may have been the overall favorite to win. The veteran IndyCar driver now races in NASCAR’s Canadian division, and took the pole for the race at Road America. However, like many races before, Tagliani fell to mistakes on track, spinning after contact with a fellow competitor and never recovered.

With many road course ringers near the front of the field, the hopes of the Xfinity Series regulars scoring a victory on Saturday seemed slim. However, in the closing laps, Brendan Gaughan looked best positioned to challenge for the top spot, having won at the track before. He would charge after his teammate McDowell on the final restart, but could not close the gap and settled for second.

The victory for McDowell, who will race Sunday in the Cup race at Michigan, was a long time coming. Having raced early in his career on road courses in sports cars, he is considered somewhat of a road course ringer. However, much like Tagliani, he had been snakebit in previous attempts to win at Road America. The victory is his first in any of NASCAR’s top three divisions.

Here are the full results from the Road America 180 for the Xfinity Series:

1. Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
2. Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
3. Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
4. Daniel Suarez, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
5. Ryan Reed, Ford, Roush-Fenway Racing
6. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
7. Alex Tagliani, Ford, Team Penske
8. Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
9. Darrell Wallace Jr., Ford, Roush-Fenway Racing
10. JJ Yeley, Toyota, Tri-Star Motorsports
11. Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, JD Motorsports
12. Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
13. Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, JGL Racing
14. Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, RSS Racing
15. Ray Black Jr., Chevrolet, SS Green Light Racing
16. Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing
17. Owen Kelly, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
18. Blake Koch, Chevrolet, Kaulig Racing
19. JD Davision, Chevrolet, King Autosport
20. Alex Kennedy, Chevrolet, Rick Ware Racing
21. Erik Jones, Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing
22. Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Means Racing
23. Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, Derrike Cope Racing
24. David Starr, Chevrolet, RSS Racing
25. Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Jeremy Clements Racing
26. Tomy Drissi, Toyota, Tri-Star Motorsports
27. Stanton Barrett, Ford, McLeod Motorsports
28. B.J. McLeod, Ford, McLeod Motorsports
29. Scott Heckert, Ford, Rick Ware Racing
30. Alon Day, Dodge, MBM Racing
31. Paige Decker, Chevrolet, Obiaka Racing
32. Justin Marks, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
33. Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, JD Motorsports
34. Kenny Habul, Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
35. John Jackson, Dodge, MBM Racing
36. Nic Hammann, Dodge, Harmon Racing
37. Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Shepherd Racing Ventures
38. Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, Obiaka Racing
39. Jeff Green, Toyota, Tri-Star Motorsports
40. Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, JD Motorsports

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Next up for the drivers of the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be the lady in black. Racing from Darlington Raceway on NASCAR Throwback weekend can be seen on Saturday, September 3. Coverage begins at 3:00 pm eastern on your local NBC station.