6 photos of Kyle Larson edging Chris Buescher in the closest NASCAR Cup Series finish ever
THAT WAS SO CLOSE.
Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher made NASCAR history Sunday at Kansas Speedway when the pair dueled it out and crossed the finish line to record the closest finish ever in the Cup Series.
Larson in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet edged Buscher in the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford by just 0.001 seconds. That’s tough, but Buescher was a good sport about it.
The two were racing in a two-lap overtime shootout with Larson on the outside and Buscher on the inside, making contact with each other multiple times as they hurled toward the finish line. It was fairly impossible to determine who finished first in the AdventHealth 400 initially, but NASCAR has a contingency plan for photo finishes.
NASCAR uses two high-speed cameras for photos, not video, at the finish line, and while the “cameras are capable of taking photos at speeds of 3,000 to 20,000 per second but usually end up taking them at 6,000 to 8,000 frames per second”, as FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported earlier this year.
So here are six photos from the closest finish in NASCAR history, including the one officials used to determine Larson topped Buescher.