The Closest NASCAR Cup Series Finishes Of All-Time
Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher made history at the 2024 AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, although one of them will remember it more fondly than the other.
Larson beat Buescher across the finish line by a nose to win the race by .001 seconds, which was the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
The only NASCAR race that had a smaller margin of victory was the 2018 Xfinity race at Daytona, which was listed at .0004 seconds.
There have been plenty of other photo finishes since electronic integrated scoring was introduced in 1993, however, and these are the closest:
1993 DIEHARD 500 AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY: .005 SECONDS
Dale Earnhardt’s 10 wins at Talladega is the most of any driver, but one of them came down to the home stretch as he took the high line to get around Eddie Irvan and beat him by a few inches. “That’s all it takes,” Earnhardt said after the race.
2007 PEPSI 400 AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: .005 SECONDS
Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch put on an epic battle over the last 32 laps, but McMurray came out on top to claim his second career win.
2011 GATORADE DUEL 2 AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: .005 SECONDS
The final green flag came with three laps to go with Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer on the front row and Burton was able to hold the lead in the Daytona 500 qualifying race.
2001 GATORADE DUEL 2 AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: .004 SECONDS
The pack drove through Turns 1 and 2 on the final lap five wide with Mike Skinner leading the way onto the backstretch as Dale Earnhardt Jr. faked right, then passed him on the inside into Turn 3, but Skinner got a run out of Turn 4 and made it stick for the win.
2024 AMBETTER HEALTH 400 AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY: .003 SECONDS
Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney lined up on the front row for a restart with five laps to go and fought it out until the final lap when Kyle Busch squeezed in between them for a drag race to the finish line that ended with Suarez .003 seconds ahead of Blaney and just .007 seconds in front of Busch.
2003 CAROLINA DODGE DEALERS 400 AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY: .002 SECONDS
Dubbed “The Greatest Finish” by NASCAR fans, Ricky Craven and Kurt Bush fought bumped and banged their way through the last 10 laps in damaged cars, with Busch’s power steering dead the whole way.
They rammed into each other all the way down the final straight with Craven coming out ahead by about four feet. After the race, Busch gave Craven a hug and told him “that was awesome” knowing they’d just been a part of something special.
2011 AARON’S 499 AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY: .002 SECONDS
Jimmie Johnson’s win was another three-wide thriller as he, Bowyer and Jeff Gordon all got pushed across the finish line with hardly anything separating them, but a late dive to the inside by Johnson with teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind him was enough to secure the win.
2024 ADVENTHEALTH 400 AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY: .001 SECONDS
Even without the finish, this race was a classic that saw 27 lead changes among 10 drivers and battles to the ends of all three stages, but it was the final stage finish that goes in the record books
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