Head-scratching strategy for Michael McDowell at Watkins Glen pays dividends

Crew chief Travis Peterson appeared to leave driver Michael McDowell on an island in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen. 

Before the conclusion of Stage 2, when most drivers near the front of the field would pit and flip the stage, Peterson left McDowell out on old tires, which would then allow McDowell a tire advantage to start Stage 3. 

But the first part of the strategy failed, as McDowell fell out of the top 10 entirely and didn't earn any stage points in Stage 2. He then went to the back of the field and had a long road ahead of him to get a solid finish. 

Everything worked out for McDowell, however, who employed the same strategy as race winner Shane van Gisbergen by pitting during the race's final green flag run, as many of the front-runners were forced to save fuel. 

Strategy worked out for Michael McDowell

While McDowell didn't have nearly enough pace to track down the dominant van Gisbergen, he drove his way back up to second to earn a much-needed runner-up finish. 

"It's great," McDowell told Fox Sports. "There were moments where I thought maybe we can hang with SVG. In that second stage, we got a little off strategy. We recovered well. Just not quite enough to run him down."