NASCAR At Watkins Glen 2012: Marcos Ambrose Holds Off Brad Keselowski In Epic Finish

For the second consecutive week, Regan Smith finished a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in the top 10 on Sunday. Smith got a ninth-place result at Watkins Glen, just as he did the week before at Pocono.

Sunday’s finish was encouraging for a team which has had its share of struggles in 2012, as before last week it had not finished a race better than 14th.

Either 43 of the world’s best race car drivers are a bunch of whiners with active imaginations or NASCAR failed to recognize there was oil on the track at the end of Sunday’s Watkins Glen race.

After hearing from the drivers after the race, it seems to be the latter.

In a wild final two laps that rivaled any race in recent memory for unrelenting action, Marcos Ambrose out-dueled Brad Keselowski to win Sunday’s Finger Lakes 355 at Watkins Glen International.

Kyle Busch had the lead at the white flag, but slid in a patch of oil exiting Turn 1 on the final lap. Keselowski likewise slid in the oil, hit Busch’s No. 18 Toyota and spun it. For the rest of the final lap, Ambrose and Keselowski raced side-by-side for the lead, with Ambrose finally clearing the No. 2 Dodge in the last corner.

It’s NASCAR race day at Watkins Glen, and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about today’s Finger Lakes 355 for you below.

What time does the race start today? Former Major League Baseball catcher Kirt Manwaring will give the command to start engines at 1:09 p.m. Eastern time today. Following a few pace laps, Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown will wave the green flag at 1:20 p.m. So if you want to skip the pre-race show and just tune in for the race itself, turn on your TV set at 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

Danica Patrick had high hopes of a solid finish on the Watkins Glen International road course, where she used to race in her IndyCar days.

But she didn’t even make it through one turn of Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race before her day was ruined.

A rainy Friday at Watkins Glen International shook up the NASCAR schedule, and the sanctioning body has made some adjustments to Saturday’s event lineup as a result.

The Sprint Cup Series cars only got on track for one practice on Friday after the first one was rained out, so NASCAR added a Cup practice – the so-called “Happy Hour” – from 8-9:25 a.m. Eastern on Saturday morning.

After last weekend’s tragic lightning incident at Pocono Raceway, weather will be a focus this weekend at Watkins Glen International. This is especially true with a slight risk of strong-to-severe storms during the day today.

Rain and storms are likely off and on today. During the afternoon some of the storms could be strong to potentially severe. The Storm Prediction Center has all of New York state in a slight risk for severe weather. Gusty winds, hail and frequent lightning are all possible with any storm that could develop later today. It could be a challenge to get all of the scheduled on-track events in today.

The twist of fate that inserted Jeff Gordon’s name back into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff race was much like a parting of the seas. But even with one win in hand after a bizarre finish at Pocono Raceway, it’s far from smooth sailing from here for the four-time champion.

Gordon shot from fifth to first when his rivals collided in front of him in what turned out to be the final restart before a rainstorm prematurely halted last Sunday’s Pennsylvania 400. The result handed Gordon his first victory of the year and a provisional grasp on a wild-card berth with five races left before NASCAR’s postseason.