August 9, 2014 By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.— Recovering from an early spin after contact with Kyle Busch’s Toyota, Marcos Ambrose held off Busch in the closing laps of Saturday’s Zippo 200 at the Glen to win the series-best fifth road course race of his Nationwide Series career. The Australian driver has won four consecutive NNS starts at 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International, having triumphed in three straight from 2008 through 2010 and this year after a three-race hiatus from competition at the Glen. Though Ambrose knows full well the big prizes—a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in the…

August 2, 2014 By Rob Gray NASCAR Wire Service NEWTON, Iowa — The well-worn script read something like this: Brad Keselowski swoops in from the sky. The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion snares a second straight win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series US Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway, then hops a jet back to Pocono Raceway and competes in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Long Pond, Pa. Simple. Neat. Expected — except part-timer Michael McDowell nearly spoiled the big-timer's happy, if nerve-wracking Saturday night ending. "I had my shot at it," said McDowell, who led briefly on lap 248…