To quote NASCAR on FOX broadcaster Mike Joy, “Have you ever?”
The May 5, 2024 race at Kansas Speedway officially marked the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history, as Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher to the checkered flag by a margin of 0.001. This beat the previous record held since 2003, with the infamous fight for the win between Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch at Darlington Raceway.
After Kyle Busch spun on lap 261 of 267 to bring out the caution. Then, on the final restart, Chris Buescher took the lead from Denny Hamlin and led to the white flag. Kyle Larson was able to pull up right beside him down the backstretch. Larson used the high line as both cars banged doors coming to the finish. Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr nearly made it a four-wide photo finish, as Elliott finished third and Truex finished fourth. This was Larson’s second win of the season and 25th of his career.
“That was wild,” said Larson in his post-race interview. “I was obviously thankful for that caution. We were dying pretty bad. Was happy to come out third (off pit road), and figured my best shot was to choose the bottom and try and split three-wide to the inside.”
“Worked out my car turned well and was able to get some runs. Got through (Turns) 1 and 2 really good down the backstretch and had a big tow on Chris, and got him to kind of enter shallow, and I just committed really hard up top.
“Wasn’t quite sure if we were going to make it out the other side. I got super loose in the center, and then we’re just trying to… I’m trying not to get too far ahead of him to where he can side-draft, and then I was just trying to kill his run. It was crazy.”
Most lead lap cars came down pit-road for fuel and two tires, which was led by Denny Hamlin. Before Busch’s spin, it was a fuel-saving game for many of the leaders.
“That sucks to be that close,” said Buescher, who overcame a pit road penalty during the Stage 2 break. “It was a great finish for us, a really strong day. A lot of speed in this Castrol Edge Ford Mustang, and we really needed that. Needed a win more, and I thought might have had that one.”
“Had a lot of speed there firing off. We were really good really all day, and really proud of that. Had some good strategy to get us back up there and tried to cover what I could and gave him half a lane too much, I suppose, but good hard race right there down to the line. But, yeah, it just hurts.”
In a race that had 27 lead changes among 10 different drivers, and seven cautions for 43 laps, Larson said the race was amazing from start to finish.
“You guys got your money’s worth today, and I’m just proud to be a part of the show.”
Polesitter Christopher Bell finished sixth, followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Noah Gragson, and Michael McDowell.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads next to Darlington Raceway for throwback weekend next Sunday at 3 pm EST.
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