Weekend Recap: Watkins Glen

Weekend Recap: Watkins Glen

Nationwide Series: Zippo 200 @ the Glen

Results (Top 10):                                 Standings (as of the Glen):     Points Behind

1. Carl Edwards (i)                                1. Elliott Sadler                         Leader

2. Brad Keselowski (i)                           2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.              -13

3. Sam Hornish Jr.                                 3. Sam Hornish Jr.                    - 24

4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.                           4. Austin Dillon*                      - 29

5. Ron Fellows                                      5. Justin Allgaier                       - 75

6. Kyle Busch (i)                                   6. Michael Annett                     - 109

7. Kasey Kahne (i)                                7. Cole Whitt*                           - 161

8. Paul Menard (i)                                 8. Mike Bliss                             - 205

9. Justin Allgaier                                   9. Brian Scott                            - 263

10. Brian Scott                                      10. Joe Nemechek                     - 291

(i) = ineligible for points in this series    *= Rookie

Not too bad for your first race of the season.

Sprint Cup regular Carl Edwards took advantage of his first Nationwide start of 2012 and won the Zippo 200 @ the Glen after passing Brad Keselowski for good with 5 laps remaining. Edwards, a former Nationwide champion and consistent winner in the series, cut out Nationwide racing from his schedule to try and focus only on the Sprint Cup Series. Unfortunately for Edwards, so far that strategy hasn't helped him in the Cup Series where he's been winless since March of 2011 and lost the championship to Tony Stewart in dramatic fashion last season. Perhaps this win will boost Edwards confidence as the Sprint Cup season continues as this is his only slated Nationwide race this year.

Points leader Elliott Sadler's championship points lead shrunk to just 13 points after he could only manage a 12th place finish. That allowed pole sitter Sam Hornish to close the gap by finishing third. Even Ricky Stenhouse, who admits he's not good on road courses, managed a fourth place finish to jump up into 2nd in points.

The Nationwide Series heads to its third and final road course of the season, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, next weekend where there have been last lap passes in nearly every Nationwide race there.

Sprint Cup Series: Finger Lakes 355 @ the Glen

Results (Top 10):                   Standings (as of the Glen):      Points Behind

1. Marcos Ambrose                 1. Jimmie Johnson                     Leader

2. Brad Keselowski                 2. Greg Biffle                            - 1

3. Jimmie Johnson                   3. Matt Kenseth                         - 2

4. Clint Bowyer                       4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.                 - 17

5. Sam Hornish Jr. (i)              5. Brad Keselowski                   - 44

6. Greg Biffle                          6. Martin Truex Jr.                     - 49

7. Kyle Busch                         7. Clint Bowyer                         - 58

8. Matt Kenseth                       8. Tony Stewart                         - 61

9. Regan Smith                        9. Kevin Harvick                      - 67

10. Martin Truex Jr.                10. Denny Hamlin                     - 84

                                                WC1. Kasey Kahne                   - 124

                                                WC2. Ryan Newman                 - 133

Holy moly.

That's what everybody was saying on the last lap of the Finger Lakes 355 @ the Glen after the last lap chaos that resulted in Marcos Ambrose scoring his second career Sprint Cup win (both at Watkins Glen) and defending his race winning title from last season. Kyle Busch looked to have the race easily in control after taking the lead by passing both Ambrose and second place finisher Brad Keselowski on a restart with 16 laps to go. Busch created a sizable lead over Ambrose and Keselowski, but appeared to be slowing up with only a lap and a half left.

Bobby Labonte blew an engine with two laps left and laid down a trail of oil around the entire track, though the drivers claimed they were unable to see it, they just knew it was there because of how much they were sliding around. The reason Busch looked like he was having a problem was because he was sliding in oil around every turn. Keselowski caught up to Busch's back bumper in turn 2 on the final lap and wrecked Busch after he cut in front of Keselowski. That left Ambrose and Keselowski to battle for the win as they banged and bumped and slide around the final 9 turns, even driving through the grass at one point. Ambrose edged barely in front of Keselowski coming off the final turn to capture his second career win.

Here's a clip of the amazing finish:

Nearly every driver complained about oil on the final two laps and many were confused as to why NASCAR didn't throw a caution. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon were just a few of the drivers who were baffled about NASCAR's decision and Gordon was even a victim of the oil, crashing on the final turn after running 9th. Despite all of the complaints, it sure did make for one hell of a finish.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost his points lead after spinning out by himself with 7 laps to go and finished 28th, falling from 1st to 4th in points. With his 3rd place finish, Johnson moved into the points lead and Greg Biffle passed teammate Matt Kenseth for second in the points. Had Kyle Busch won, he would've forced Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon to win another race to earn the second wild card spot (Kasey Kahne already has the first wild card spot due to his two wins to Busch, Newman, and Gordon's 1), but the race for wild card spot #2 is wide open. Newman currently owns it by six points over Busch and ten points over Gordon. One win by either of these drivers in the last four races before the Chase would most likely lock them in.

The Series heads to Michigan this weekend, where Dale Earnhardt Jr. broke his long winless streak just two months ago.