Michael McDowell stepped up to the plate late in the 2025 Coca-Cola 600, nabbing his first top 10 finish of 2025. (Photo Credit: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)
CONCORD, N.C. – Spire Motorsports continues to demonstrate remarkable speed on intermediate ovals during the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, as Michael McDowell showcased his talent by rallying late in the race to finish seventh in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The top 10 effort from the Cup Series veteran also marked his first top 10 of the 2025 campaign, despite showing speed throughout the season, which included a pole award at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this season.
The standout driver from the three-car team was Carson Hocevar, the reigning Cup Series Rookie of the Year. He was competitive for over 300 laps before his engine failed, leading to a wreck on the backstretch. Meanwhile, Justin Haley, who had been running in the top 15 for most of the race, was involved in an incident when he was clipped by a spinning Daniel Suarez, which took him out of contention for the remainder of the day.
As both cars fell out of contention for solid finishes, McDowell stepped up to the plate, as he decisively cut his way through the top 20 to find his way up at the front of the field for the entire evening.
Michael McDowell (No.71) takes on a battle with Denny Hamlin (No.11) early in the 2025 Coca-Cola 600. (Photo Credit: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)
After starting from 15th place in the 600-mile challenge, the 40-year-old veteran earned his only stage point of the race when Alex Bowman spun out exiting Turn 4 from 10th place with three laps remaining in the opening 100-lap stage. This incident allowed McDowell to secure a single point for his performance.
As the race played out ahead, McDowell had found his way back inside the top 10 with under 100 laps to go, battling tightly in battles with Chase Elliott and Erik Jones for over 40 laps as the race continued to run under the green flag.
The driver of the No. 71 Veterans 1001 Chevrolet Camaro worked his way up to second as green flag pitstops began, eventually servicing his car for the final time with 45 laps to go.
Michael McDowell racing through the night in the 2025 Coca-Cola 600. (Photo Credit: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)
After all was said and done with the green flag pit stops, McDowell managed to recycle his way back into 10th place comfortably, as several drivers ahead of him had not yet come in for their final pit stop of the night.
As the 400th and final lap was displayed, McDowell had been running sixth before fading back to seventh after Elliott got the best of the 2021 DAYTONA 500 winner, resulting in McDowell with his best finish of the season.
“Carson (Hocevar) led the charge for Spire Motorsports today,” McDowell told The Podium Finish, giving props to his Cup Series sophomore driver after fighting inside the top 5 for most of the race before his unfortunate engine failure. “We had a good car, I just made a mistake, second time down pit road, I missed my (pit) box, and had to recover from that.”
“I knew our car was good. It took us a while to get back up to the front, but I’m proud of everyone on the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team. We were good from the beginning, but that penalty set us back, and we had to work hard to get back to the front.”
McDowell played a huge role in keeping Spire Motorsports in the spotlight after Hocevar fell out of the race, as the three-car squadron has continued to show speed on intermediate tracks throughout the year.
“We’ve (Spire Motorsports) been good on mile-and-a-half tracks, glad to get a top 10, I mean we’ve been in a spot to get top 10s earlier this year and haven’t been able to get to the end of them, but proud of the effort.”
McDowell continues his upward trajectory in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture, sitting 19th in series standings as the tour ventures to another intermediate track at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee.
