Behold: The closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
King Solomon wrote many moons ago that “there is nothing new under the sun.” As someone who writes about cars on the internet, I find myself thinking that pretty often. If you’ve seen one Hellcat swap, you’ve seen ’em all. But what I, nor anyone in NASCAR Cup Series history has seen is a 0.001-second finish between two drivers.
Until Sunday at Kansas Speedway, that is.
Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher raced to the bitter end at the AdventHealth 400, though it was Larson who came out on top. You could insert any cliche here and it’d be fitting: He won by the skin of his teeth, the hair on his chin, et cetera, et cetera. Just look at it:
The Fox Sports broadcast booth initially thought Buescher took the W, as did his No. 17 Ford Mustang crew. They were celebrating straight away, leaping over the pit wall with a jig before things turned in Larson’s favor. See, Buescher was in the lead right until he wasn’t, and the two cars banged doors coming out of Turn 4.
“That race from the start to finish was amazing,” Larson said after celebrating the win. “That first stage was incredible, the second stage at the end was fun, and then that whole last stage with the wrecks and cautions and then fuel strategy and tires running long and all that was wild. You guys got your money’s worth today, and I’m just proud to be a part of the show.”
Meanwhile, Buescher was understandably torn up.
“We were celebrating down the backstretch and looked at the pylon, and we were P1 up there,” Buescher said. “Everything we had said we had gotten it. Obviously not. The only thing I have to go off of is a grainy photo right now, and at this point it just sounds like I am complaining—and I guess I am because I don’t see it in that.
“I don’t understand how the timing system can read it out one way and not the other. We just got to understand it better.”
The win marks Larson’s 25th career Cup Series victory, his second of the season, and his second at Kansas Speedway. At .001 seconds, the Lightning McQueen-style finish beats the previous record of .002 seconds which was accomplished twice—once between Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch at Darlington in 2003 then again between Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer at Talladega in 2011. Craven and Johnson won those races, respectively.
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