"Can’t ask a guy that’s not very good at road courses”: Michael McDowell's straightforward take on Brad Keselowski’s verdict

NASCAR driver Michael McDowell feels that road racing was over for Brad Keselowski when NASCAR introduced the NextGen car back in 2022. The Spire Motorsports newcomer explained his take during the latest episode of the Door, Bumper, Clear podcast.

In his last six road course starts, the RFK Racing driver finished 23rd or worse on four occasions. He hasn’t finished inside the top 10 at road courses even once since June 12, 2022.

Keselowski recently shared his thoughts on a very pressing matter: Are there too many road courses on NASCAR’s schedule currently? Taking to X, the former Cup champion wrote:

“We went from 2 to 6 Road course races, possibly 7 next year. NASCAR was successfully built as a primarily oval racing series. IMSA was built as the primary road course series in North America. IMSA will always do road racing better than NASCAR and that’s ok. Yes, TOO Many Road courses in NASCAR.”

For Brad Keselowski, about two to four road course races are more than enough. On that note, McDowell said,

“I think Brad is one of those guys that…when this NextGen car came, the road course stuff was over for him. I mean, you can’t ask a guy that’s not very good at roadcourses if he thinks there should be more road courses.”

One could say that Shane van Gisbergen is the reigning king of road course racing. He won three races last year in the Xfinity Series, and all three of them were at road courses.

2025 marks his maiden year in the Cup Series. Still, he was able to bag three more wins, all of which were on road courses. Last Sunday at Sonoma, the Auckland native tied Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon’s record (1998-99) of three back-to-back street circuit triumphs from the pole position.

---

Brad Keselowski’s tire changer gets into a shoving session with Ty Gibbs’ crew member

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #6 Solomon Plumbing Ford, at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 18, 2025 - Source: Getty

The Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway was the 20th race of the season. On Lap 52 of the 110-lap event, Ty Gibbs made a pit stop while clipping Brad Keselowski’s stall, nearly hitting the tire that the latter’s front tire changer, Telvin McClurkin, was carrying at the time.

After the drivers had driven away, McClurkin stormed into Keselowski’s stall and got into a fight with one of his crew members. The scuffle was promptly settled by intervening NASCAR officials.

During his post-race interview, Gibbs said that he had done nothing wrong. After all, he was the lead car, and so, he had to drive past Keselowski’s stall, which was right next to his own.

“By NASCAR rules, I'm the lead car," Gibbs explained. "We have these orange lines, I have to go around those orange lines and I have right-of-way. (The pit crew) is on the wall for a reason, they jump for a reason and they kind of get out of the way.”

However, Brad Keselowski has not said anything about the fracas yet. He is vying for his first win of the season. Next up for the RFK Racing owner is the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway. The 400-lap race is scheduled for Sunday, July 20 (2 pm ET onwards).

Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today’s top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.

Edited by Tushhita Barua