NASCAR: Brutal Crashes Rekindling Watkins Glen's Ominous Reputation

There have been a number of terrible wrecks at Watkins Glen in recent years, including two during Monday's Sprint Cup event. The crashes are conjuring up memories of the track's dangerous reputation from two decades ago and the tragedy that brought changes to the circuit.

NASCAR At Watkins Glen Results: Marcos Ambrose Gets First-Career Win

Marcos Ambrose is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner.

The native of Launceston, Tasmania took the lead on the first lap of a green-white checker and was in front when the yellow flag flew during a carnage-filled final lap. David Reutimann's Toyota flipped wildly in between turns one and two after being collected by David Ragan, who was turned by Boris Said. Both Ragan and Reutimann climbed from their cars after the second horrifying accident of the race. Denny Hamlin walked away from a vicious crash in turn one on lap 66.

Later in the same lap, Tony Stewart crashed in the inter-loop.

Brad Keselowski finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., and Joey Logano.

Ambrose had come close before in the Sprint Cup Series. He gave away a sure win at Sonoma in June 2010 when he stalled his car under caution, gift-wrapping the win to Jimmie Johnson. He ran second to Stewart in 2009 and was third in both 2008 and 2010. He had won the Nationwide race each of the past three years, as well.

NASCAR At Watkins Glen: Denny Hamlin Walks Away From Brutal Crash

Denny Hamlin has walked away from a horrifying accident at the Watkins Glen International circuit.

Hamlin's throttle appeared to stick wide open as he reached the first corner, sending him full speed into a tire barrier. The nose of his Toyota was mangled, but Hamlin climbed from the car under his own power after several moments.

The crash conjured up memories of two previous frightening accidents at Watkins Glen. In 2000, then-relative unknown Jimmie Johnson lost his brakes entering turn one in a NASCAR Busch Series race, cleared the sand trap that was at the outside of the track at the time and slammed into a styrofoam wall. He climbed on his roof with his arms raised in the air, incredibly unhurt.

In 1991 however, veteran independent racers J.D. McDuffie and Jimmy Means went off course at the track's fifth turn and slammed into a fence. Means suffered a gashed chin, while McDuffie was killed instantly at age 52. That crash along with many others in the corner led to the addition of the backstretch chicane - also known as the inner loop - in 1992.

With less than 20 laps remaining, Hamlin's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch leads Brad Keselowski, Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr., and Juan Pablo Montoya.

NASCAR At Watkins Glen: Jeff Gordon Leads As Race Reaches Halfway

Regardless of whether or not rain drenches the Watkins Glen International circuit, the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen will conclude today. The race is official, with half-distance completed. Jeff Gordon leads Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Tony Stewart.

Marcos Ambrose has led a race-high 16 laps, but he is on a three pit stop strategy, while Busch, Keselowski, and Stewart are among the drivers planning to do the race in only two stops. As such, Ambrose has cycled outside the top 20 after making his second stop.

The most dramtic moment of the race occured on lap nine. Kurt Busch, having lost a lap as a result of a lap-five spin and subsequent pit stop, ran into race leader A.J. Allmendinger, causing Allmendinger to go off course in the chicane on the backstretch - the same area wher Busch spun earlier. Allmendinger had grabbed the lead from Kyle Busch on the opening lap and led the opening eight laps. He has recovered to run inside the top-10.

NASCAR At Watkins Glen: Heluva Good! At The Glen Underway

A little under 24 hours later than planned, the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips is underway. A.J. Allmendinger make a bold move to grab the lead on the opening circuit of the race from pole-sitter Kyle Busch. Allmendinger, seeking his first-career Sprint Cup win, led after just five of 90 laps in today's race. His Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos AMbrose, likewise seeking his first win, runs second, followed by Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and last year's winner Juan Pablo Montoya.

Boris Said, one of the road-racing specialists, spun getting into the backstretch interloop on the second lap of the race, but he resumed. Kurt Busch then spun on the fifth lap in the same part of the track but likewise resumed.

Rain postponed the race, originally scheduled to start at 1:19 p.m. on Sunday. There was still mist in the rain air Monday, but the race went green as scheduled just after 10 a.m.

NASCAR Heluva Good! at The Glen Postponed By Rain

The Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen has been postponed by persistent rains at the upsate-New York race track.

This is the first postponement of the 2011 season. It is the also the second time in three years that rain has pushed a race at Watkins Glen International to Monday. Tony Stewart won in 2009 for his record fifth victory at the picturesque road course.

The event will be seen on ESPN at 10 a.m, weather permitting. The forcast for tomorrow calls for a 60% chance of rain, while Tuesday's forcast has only a 20% chance of rain. Traditionally Tuesday is the latest NASCAR will attempt to run a race before postponing it to a later date. With no off-weekends remaining in the 2011 season, the race likely would become the last race of the year in such a situation.

The last time a Sprint Cup race was moved to a later weekend for rain was May 1997, when the Winston 500 at Talladega was postponed two weeks and run on Mother's Day Weekend.  A year later, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona was moved from July to October because of wildfires that ravaged Florida in the summer of 1998. The September 16, 2001 race at Loudon was moved to November in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

NASCAR At Watkins Glen: Race Start On Hold Due To Rain And Stories To Watch

NASCAR Sprint Cup racing at Watkins Glen International is going to happen - eventually.

The start of the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen is on hold because of rain. The forcast for the day is not promising, and given the time needed to dry a drenched 2.45-mile road course makes a race today unlikely.

The 2009 race was similarly plagued by rain. Tony Stewart won that Monday, his record fifth triumph at the track.

With the race on hold and likely headed for postponement, there is plenty of time to take a look at the stories to watch for the race.

Who helps and who hurts their Chase hopes? The battle to make the Chase, especially with the new rules for this season, has come to somewhat overshadow the individual races themselves. With road racing being a different kind of animal, however, the Glen could provide the perfect boost - or the nail in the coffin - for a driver's hopes of making the playoff. The right strategy could steal a solid finish - or even a win, putting a driver in position for one of the wild-card spots - while the wrong strategy could leave a driver with a miserable finish and a possibly insurmountable gap to the Chase.

Does a road course ringer finally break through? As we said in June before the Sonoma race, no road course ringer has won since the late Mark Donohue at Riverside in 1973. Ron Fellows and Boris Said have come close in previous years, with Fellows recording second-place finishes to Jeff Gordon in 1999 and Tony Stewart in 2004.

Can Marcos Ambrose finally get to victory lane? The Australian V8 Supercar standout won three-consecutive Nationwide races at Watkins Glen from 2008-10, but he is still looking for his maiden Sprint Cup victory. Ambrose ran second to Stewart in the rain-postponed race in 2009, a performance sandwiched between a pair of third-place finishes in 2008 and 2010.

How far can Denny Hamlin get through the field? Hamlin starts 42nd after spinning and tagging the wall on his qualifying lap. He is 11th in the standings - and currently in position for a wild card spot - but a bad showing could cost him significantly and would loom large if his No. 11 Toyota were on the outside looking in when the Chase field is set at his home track in Richmond.

NASCAR at Watkins Glen: Kyle Busch Snares Heluva Good at The Glen Pole

Kyle Busch was the final car to qualify thanks to his fastest practice speed Friday, and he backed it up by grabbing the pole for Sunday's Heluva Good! at the Glen. It is his second pole at Watkins Glen International; his first came courtesy of rain showers in 2008. He went on to win the race.

Busch's lap - the 15th and, obviously, the final lap to break the track's previous record - spoiled what would have been an all-Richard Petty Motorsports front row. As it is, A.J. Allmendinger will roll off from the second position, while teammate and Australian road racing ace Marcos Ambrose starts third. Jimmie Johnson starts fourth, with defending race champion Juan Pablo Montoya fifth. Five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart will start seventh.

Point leader Carl Edwards will start eighth.

There were 46 drivers attempting the race. The three who will not start tomorrow's event are Dave Blaney and road course "ringers" Brian SImo and P.J. Jones. The ringers who made the show were

NASCAR At Watkins Glen: Five-Time Winner Tony Stewart Seeks First Triumph Of 2011