Michael McDowell’s victory last weekend at Indianapolis showed what a team, if given the chance with an equal car can do.
The Next Gen car was touted as a way to tighten the competition and provide more Cup teams and drivers with chances to win. After a season that saw 19 different winners, this year has followed with another turnaround.
McDowell’s victory marked the third race in a row — and fourth time this season — that a driver with more than 250 Cup starts and fewer than five series victories won a race.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. began the season by winning the Daytona 500 in his 365th career start. It was his third career victory.
Chris Buescher won at Richmond last month, claiming his third career victory in his 279th start. He won the next weekend at Michigan for his fourth win in 280 starts.
McDowell followed that at the Indy road course, scoring his second career victory in his 453rd start.
Stenhouse won with JTG Daugherty Racing. Buescher led RFK Racing to those wins. McDowell won with Front Row Motorsports.Those three organizations combined to win four races between 2015-21 — the final six seasons of the previous car. That’s a 1.6% winning percentage.Three of those four victories came at Daytona and Talladega, tracks where smaller teams had a better chance of winning because of the close racing and unpredictable nature of those events.The last time JTG Daugherty Racing, RFK Racing or Front Row Motorsports won a Cup race at a track other […]
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