Top Dog: Michael McDowell
The arrival of Shane van Gisbergen onto the NASCAR Cup Series scene has both awed industry members and fans alike by his mastery on road courses, and somewhat put recent road favorites on the back burner.
Road course aces such as AJ Allmendinger, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson have competed up front, but none of them have been able to overwhelm the imposing road course figure van Gisbergen presents.
One driver you can also loop into that group is Michael McDowell, an established conqueror on NASCAR’s lefts and rights whose talent has also been relatively overshadowed this season.
However, while van Gisbergen triumphed once again at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, McDowell sent a reminder that he will continue to be a threat in the future, locking up a fifth-place result.
Until Larson nearly outwitted SVG at the ROVAL, it was McDowell who laid claim to giving the New Zealander the best run for his money at the Chicago street course, dominating that event before suffering an engine issue.
At the ROVAL, McDowell launched from sixth on a day where tire conservation played a lead role. McDowell split the 25-lap stage in half with his first stop and cycled through to finish the opening run in sixth.
Mixed strategies during the stage break shuffled McDowell back, and despite a couple of close calls in traffic, the Phoenix, Ariz. native closed out the second stage in 14th.
McDowell returned to the top 10 quickly in the final frame, closing in on the leaders while running in sixth before settling into that position. Tire management didn’t play into McDowell’s hands down the stretch, but nevertheless, he closed the race out strong with a top five.
Despite McDowell’s extensive road racing resume, he logged a personal best at the ROVAL with not only his first top five there, but also his first top-10 showing.
The performance continues what has been a quiet hot stretch for McDowell recently, who has finished 19th or better in eight of the past nine events.
Though the years fly by, it continues to appear that the veteran McDowell is nowhere near slowing down. Time will tell.
Notable Underdog Runs
Speaking of the aforementioned Allmendinger, it has been a down year across the board as far as road course results go for the three-time Cup winner.
The Los Gatos, Calif. native had only recorded one top 10 in the five road course events this season entering the ROVAL, where he earned his second top 10 in ninth.
However, the road racing prowess of Allmendinger seemed to return throughout the weekend, starting by topping practice and then qualifying ninth.
After racing patiently to conserve his tires, Allmendinger struck midway through the first stage, driving up to fifth before making his first pit stop. After re-entering the top 10, the No. 16 team opted to flip the stage and pit with three laps remaining before the stage’s conclusion, leaving Allmendinger in 16th.
The strategy call ultimately netted “The Dinger” the lead to commence stage two, leading the opening 13 laps before eventually losing it to van Gisbergen. Allmendinger rolled with the same pit strategy as stage one, flipping the second stage and finishing in 13th.
The 43-year-old got as high as fourth in the final stage before struggling with grip, sending the team into strategy mode down the stretch. Allmendinger went on a three-stop strategy over the final run, driving up to seventh on the final lap. Yet, entering the frontstretch chicane, Daniel Suarez locked up his tires, missing the chicane and nailing Allmendinger, who drove backwards across the line to remain in the top 10.
The result is Allmendinger’s seventh top 10 of 2025, matching his 2023 total (his most recent full-time season) and one shy of his highest mark in a Kaulig Racing car (eight in 2022).
You have to go back to 17th to find the next underdog, where Todd Gilliland placed his No. 34 machine.
A subtly solid road racer, Gilliland opted to run the full stage to open the race in order to save a set of tires, finishing the opening frame in 32nd. By the end of the second stage, Gilliland had improved to 15th.
The Sherrills Ford, N.C. native ran inside the top 20 for much of the final stage before using strategy once again to set up a strong run to the finish. Gilliland pitted later than others around him to have fresh rubber, using it to propel forward and rack up a top 20.
Last season, Gilliland went on an extensive run of consistency through the spring and summer before falling on shaky ground down the stretch. This year, in what has been an uphill battle for the most part, the 25-year-old has finally found his footing, earning his third consecutive top 20.
Rounding out the top 20 for the dark horses was Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished 19th.
Three days after celebrating his 38th birthday, Stenhouse pieced together a well-rounded day for the Hyak Motorsports’ team expectations, finishing the first stage in 17th and running inside the top 20 for a considerable portion of the race. The result is Stenhouse’s second top 20 on a road course this season, as well as his fifth top 20 at the ROVAL in eight starts.
How about a little break from the Cup Series underdogs? On the NASCAR Xfinity Series side, the race featured an underdog coming up just one spot short of pulling off an upset.
That would be Austin Green, who finished in the runner-up position and continued to prove the value he could bring to at least a top-tier team in need of a driver for a road course event.
The son of 1994 series champion David Green, Austin tallied his career-best finish with the performance, and he earned his eighth top 10 in just 19 Xfinity starts. That is no little feat considering that Green has run in mid-tier equipment, yet the statistics show for themselves that this young talent should deserve more nods for a ride down the road.
Underdog Power Rankings
1. Van Gisbergen (+2): Though not included on this week’s edition of The Underdog House due to his road course supremacy, it’s hard not to put van Gisbergen at the top after the strength he has shown not only on road courses, but also on ovals. Continued progress is what it’s going to take to keep him at the top at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he has finishes of 29th and 34th.
2. McDowell (+1): The McDowell that is expected to be a road course threat showed up at the ROVAL, delivering a top five to lead the underdog charge and continue a recent hot streak of top-15 finishes. Surprisingly, McDowell has never finished in the top 15 at Las Vegas, but did record a 16th-place result in the spring,
3. Carson Hocevar (-2): Hocevar’s video game success on Charlotte’s gigantic backstretch screen didn’t translate to reality, with a couple of blunders setting him back en route to a 29th-place finish. One quality that adds to the rising arsenal of Hocevar’s skill-set, however, is his ability to recover, and given his speed on intermediate tracks this year, Las Vegas could be the perfect opportunity.
4. Allmendinger (NR): We didn’t quite get the vintage ROVAL performance from the 2023 winner in Allmendinger, but his road course form looked closer to his normal self with a top 10. In some ways, ovals have been more fruitful for the 43-year-old this season, and Las Vegas is an example of that notion. Allmendinger finished eighth there in March.
5. Gilliland (NR): It’s been a minute since Gilliland appeared in these rankings, but he does so this week on the heels of his third consecutive top 20. That stretch will be held to the fire in Las Vegas, where Gilliland’s best showing is 23rd in seven starts.
Honorable Mentions: Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Cole Custer
Small Team Scheme of the Week
One of the greatest sights of the ROVAL weekend comes both on and off the track. Each year, the track holds a day for drivers, industry members, and breast cancer survivors to come to the facility and paint the walls pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
That tribute transcends onto the race track, where each car features a pink window net in support of these courageous citizens as well. Some teams go all out, such as Kaulig Racing with Ty Dillon‘s No. 10 Sea Best Chevrolet, trading its normal cream and burgundy colors for a pink look in support of those who have beaten or are fighting the disease.
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.