Top Dog: Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell might be putting the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” out to pasture, though that’s not to call McDowell old.
The 40-year-old is an established veteran among his peers, enjoying the late blooming of a career that has gone through many nooks and crannies.
At his new home for 2025 at Spire Motorsports, it has challenged McDowell to adapt to a new situation once again and alter expectations. And though he’s been in the NASCAR Cup Series in some capacity since 2008, the Phoenix, Ariz. native continues to find new milestones to accomplish, big or small.
Adding to his resume, McDowell scored his first career top 10 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday (Sept. 21), finishing eighth to split the playoff drivers.
It was an efficient day for the No. 71 team from start to finish, firing out of the gates from 11th, improving one spot to finish the opening stage in 10th.
Stage two saw McDowell ride inside the top 10 for several laps before a caution flew late in stage two. Crew chief Travis Peterson made the call for two tires, propelling McDowell to fourth for the restart. However, the fresher rubber of those with four tires, as well as stronger cars on the same strategy, pushed McDowell to 12th by the end of the second frame.
The Spire driver quickly got back to work in the final stage, re-entering the top 10 and methodically working his way to eighth by the time the checkered flag dropped.
Though McDowell is on pace to record his fewest top 10s since 2021 (five that season, four in 2025), he is matching his average position of exactly 19th from 2023, a year in which he would have pointed his way into the playoffs until he ultimately won his way in at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. That mark would also be tied for the second-best in his career, should it hold up.
As Spire continues to grow and McDowell seemingly appears to get better with age, closing out the 2025 season with momentum would make this team a playoff threat for the 2026 campaign.
Notable Underdog Runs
The battle for the top driver at Spire may look clear to the eye test, but on paper, it’s been a tug-of-war between McDowell and his hotshot teammate, Carson Hocevar. For much of the race, it looked as though it would be Hocevar carrying the banner for Spire at the end of the day.
Instead, a late fade by Hocevar dropped him to 11th, getting passed for a spot in the top 10 with three laps to go. Yet, the No. 77 made its presence known once again, and it happened from the start.
On the very first lap, Hocevar jumped to the third lane in turns 1 and 2, going from sixth to third in the opening laps. After losing a couple of spots, he was able to remain inside the top five, closing out stage one in fifth.
“Hurricane” Hocevar got off to a hot start to commence the second stage as well, going toe-to-toe with Joey Logano for second before settling into third. Despite a couple of yellows and multiple two-tire strategies at the end of the stage, Hocevar held on again to finish the stage in fifth again.
In the final stage, the handling on the sophomore driver’s ride began to slip a little, dropping Hocevar to the back end of the top 10. A valiant effort to stay there came up short, as Chase Briscoe would be the culprit to put him outside the top 10 at the last second.
Still, Hocevar has consistently been heating up lately, evidenced by his near-win at Bristol Motor Speedway a week ago. His last nine starts have resulted in eight finishes of 18th or better. And though it doesn’t serve as much of a reward, Hocevar tallied the Xfinity fastest lap of the race with 24 laps remaining.
Noah Gragson pieced together one of his best flag-to-flag performances of the season, wrapping it up in 16th. A dismal 33rd-place qualifying effort was quickly put in the rearview when Gragson jumped to 15th. On the final restart of stage one, he jumped into the top lane and drove from 25th to 18th to conclude the opening segment.
Gragson didn’t stop there, driving with authority at the beginning of stage two to eventually claw his way into the top 10. The Las Vegas native settled into the top 15 for most of the stage before finishing 19th.
The Front Row Motorsports driver continued to set a solid pace in the final stage, fixing himself inside the top 20 before ultimately finishing in 16th. It is Gragson’s second top 20 in the past four weeks and eighth on the season.
FRM’s No. 4 also featured the return of a familiar sponsor in Farm Rich, which was on the car for David Ragan in 2013 when he delivered the organization its first win at Talladega Superspeedway. It is the first time the brand has been on a car since 2014.
Coming in three spots behind Gragson was his FRM teammate Todd Gilliland, who finished 19th.
Though the result may not seem eye-catching, Gilliland piloted the “Pickle Car” from last place to the top 20. Gilliland drove to 27th by the end of stage one, improving to 23rd by the end of the second stage. The ascension continued throughout the final stage, seeing the Sherrills Ford, N.C. native drive into the top 20 to secure his first top 20 on a non-superspeedway since The Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Rounding out the top 20 was AJ Allmendinger, putting the bow on a roller coaster weekend for the Kaulig Racing driver. After setting the second-fastest lap in practice, and qualifying 12th, the race turned out to be more of a challenge for the 43-year-old, a familiar puzzle that the organization has struggled to solve this season.
Early blunders in races that have cost Allmendinger track position have been his kryptonite, and the veteran suffered another case of that. A slow pit stop dropped him from 13th to 20th late in stage one, where Allmendinger ultimately finished 22nd. Long runs plagued the No. 16, with Allmendinger’s grip going away, which assisted in the struggle.
After receiving the free pass from 21st on the final caution with just under 50 laps remaining, Allmendinger was able to grab one more spot to clinch a top 20, his third consecutive such finish at Loudon.
How about a shoutout to Shane van Gisbergen, the recently eliminated playoff driver who’s had little go right lately. However, the Kiwi came to play in The Granite State, qualifying inside the top 10 for the first time in an oval, as well as finishing the opening stage in seventh, which included a brief stint inside the top five.
Unfortunately, a crash on lap 118 put a damper on what was shaping up to be a breakthrough day for the Trackhouse Racing driver, who spent more time in the top 10 than any other oval race in his career. The New Zealander finished 32nd.
Underdog Power Rankings
1. Hocevar (–): In a year where it looked like Hocevar would stay in the top spot all year initially, he has cemented himself atop the rankings for the second consecutive week, falling just short of a top 10. He could stay locked into this spot at Kansas Speedway despite having no top 10s there. Hocevar was on his way to a top 10 in the spring before a late tire issue foiled his trajectory.
2. McDowell (+3): McDowell’s quiet charge this season picked up another successful mark with his first top 10 in New Hampshire, and the No. 71 team suddenly has a little momentum. He’ll look to carry that into Kansas, where his lone top 10 there came in the spring of 2024.
3. Zane Smith (-1): It wasn’t the day Smith and the No. 38 team were looking for after qualifying inside the top 20, but other underdogs’ struggles kept him inside the top three of these rankings. Kansas has been a quietly solid track for Smith, finishing 16th and 10th in his last two starts.
4. Allmendinger (NR): Allmendinger was another driver who didn’t earn the finish he anticipated, but the No. 16 team feels like it has had more speed overall lately. The veteran scored a pair of Kansas top 10s in 2016, but he hasn’t finished there in seven starts since.
5. John Hunter Nemechek (-3): A violent crash epitomized an off day for the recently-surging Legacy Motor Club, stranding JHN in 34th. Fortunately, there is a yellow brick road to a promising resort for Nemechek in Kansas, where he has four top 20s in five starts, including a top 10 in the spring.
Honorable Mentions: Gilliland, Gragson, Erik Jones
Here’s What Happened in the 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports vs NASCAR Antitrust Case This Week (Sept. 13-19)
Small Team Scheme of the Week
BeatBox returned to Riley Herbst‘s No. 35 with its variegated livery that was hard to miss.
But instead of the multiple colors overwhelming the look, each were placed craftily to piece together a strong scheme. Herbst started 25th and finished 22nd in this vibrant paint job.
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.