How to follow Cheez-It 355 at The Glen online, TV schedule, radio and more

The two men leading the pack for Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen shouldn’t be particularly surprising to anyone who’s followed the sport over the last twenty years, as four-time Watkins Glen winner Jeff Gordon and road course specialist Marcos Ambrose will fill in the first row for the final road race of the NASCAR season

Amazingly, Gordon was unable to set a record during qualifying, as his 129.466 MPH run fell short of becoming the 16th pole record set this season. But Gordon had a reason to celebrate anyways, as Saturday doubled as his son’s birthday.

As the three-time pole winner at The Glen explained to the Associated Press, he planned on using the run to give his son a present, “I wished him a happy birthday this morning and said, ‘All right, I’m going to try to get you that pole.” Thankfully for his ego and maybe even his son’s psyche, Gordon followed through, even if he wasn’t sure it would happen when he first said it, telling reporters, “I wasn’t real confident in that statement, and now I really can’t wait to talk to him.”

He’ll have to fend off Ambrose, who already won this week’s Nationwide race at the Glen, emphatically reminding the rest of the drivers why his two wins on the Sprint Cup level have happened at Watkins Glen International. Rounding out the first three rows will be Gordon’s teammate Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and AJ Allmendinger.

With just five races left before the start of the Chase, this road course adds a series of twists and turns as judgment day rapidly approaches for several drivers sitting on the bubble for a spot in the expanded playoffs. Challengers like last week’s pole winner and No. 15 seed in the Chase Kyle Larson are looking to overcome a weak starting position -- he qualified 23rd, while No. 14 seed Clint Bowyer will be next to him in 24th and No. 16 seed Greg Biffle starts back in 28th -- to become contenders and set themselves up for a strong showing in the revamped system.

You can watch the race on ESPN beginning with pre-race coverage at 12:00 p.m ET on NASCAR Countdown, featuring Nicole Briscoe, Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace. Live race coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. with Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree in the booth. The green flag is tentatively scheduled for 1:19 p.m. In addition to the television coverage, viewers with a subscription to RaceView will be able to follow the race online. Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM Satellite NASCAR Channel 90 will provide radio coverage.

Cheez-It 355 coverage (all times Eastern):

TV: ESPN -- Noon.

Green flag: Approximately 1:19 p.m.

Radio: Motor Racing Network -- Sirius-XM channel 90