SM Staff

In spite of a few drops of rain and much discussion about oil on the track in the waning laps, here is what else was surprising and not surprising for the 27th annual Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen.

Fans used to be split on Brad Keselowski. Some loved him, especially when he drove for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Nationwide team. The kid who hit everyone but the pace car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, riled the feathers of drivers and even got Carl Edwards airborne at Talladega (and had a few run-ins with Cousin Carl thereafter) has grown up, put on his best face and become a fan favorite.

Skimming through the entry list for this weekend's NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Montreal one may find a few names that jump off the page. What do Ron Fellows, Jacques Villeneuve, Alex Tagliani, and Patrick Carpentier all have in common this weekend?

Since things changed dramatically in the Penske Racing camp back in early July at Daytona, no one would have thought differently if Sam Hornish Jr.'s performance started to slip. The Nationwide Series driver quickly found himself going from worrying solely on his championship hopes to doing double duty for the past month. Sometimes flying from state to state, bouncing between cars and teams.

I remember when the King was, well, the King. Back in those days, the King won everywhere and bagged seven championships. They weren’t consecutive because there wasn’t a lot of multi-car teams and none named Hendrick Motorsports.

Sunday afternoon, Australian driver Marcos Ambrose was looking to defend his 2011 win at Watkins Glen. It looked as if Ambrose was going to finish third until the last lap turned chaotic.

When the ARCA Racing Series took the checkered flag on Saturday night at Berlin Raceway, it was Chris Buescher picking up his third win of the season. It marks the eighth win of his young career and gives him a sweep of the series' Michigan events for 2012. He won at Michigan International Speedway two months ago.

Watching the last two laps of the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen unfold live left many holding their breath, sitting on the edge of their seats and wondering what just happened. There were wrecks, grass flying, taking and giving of the lead before one car came out unscathed at the finish line.

Marcos Ambrose is the King of the Road in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and his numbers at Watkins Glen prove it. In four starts prior to Sunday's Finger Lakes 355, Marcos posted four top-5 finishes and went to Victory Lane in last year's race at The Glen while posting an average finish of 2.2 in those four starts. When the race started on Sunday afternoon everyone's eyes were on Ambrose who was the heavy favorite to back up his effort from 2011 and by day's end he didn't disappoint.

One of the craziest final laps we’ve seen in awhile needs some breaking down. A lot of different story lines made up the final lap. When the white flag flew, we all thought Kyle Busch was going to win. Halfway through the final lap, we thought Brad Keselowski was going to be the winner and after the final lap was over.....