History made at Kansas Speedway as Kyle Larson wins in closest NASCAR finish ever

The finish was so close, no one was sure who won the NASCAR Cup AdventHealth 400 on Sunday night at Kansas Speedway.

Certainly not Kyle Larson.

Pit crew members for Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Ford team had burst over the wall in celebration as the scoring pylon and timing and scoring board showed he had won for the first time this season.

By 0.001 of a second, the closest finish in NASCAR history.

But they were misinformed.

Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet, upon further examination, was declared the winner by the nose of its bumper, much to Larson’s surprise as well.

“I didn’t know if I won or not,” Larson said amid the excitement and confusion of the finish. “I almost didn’t care … because the finish was freaking awesome.

“I didn’t know if it was Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) or my spotter, Tyler, who said, ‘It was 17 who got it,’ and I said, ‘Good job, team, that was a great race.’ Then, Tyler started going crazy on the roof.”

That’s when Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports’ team learned it won NASCAR’s closest race since Ricky Craven beat Kurt Busch by 0.002 of a second at Darlington on March 16, 2003.

“When we crossed the stripe, it flipped the 5 and 17,” Daniels said of the scoring and timing board, “with the 17 on top with a 0.000. TV said Chris Buescher won it. Kyle was asking, ‘Did we get it? Did we get it? I said, ‘Nah, it was a good effort, a good fight today, and then our spotter started screaming.”

A crestfallen Buescher did his best to accept the outcome.

“It sucks to halfway celebrate on the backstretch, and then go to the front straightaway and get told no,” he said on pit road. “I don’t know how everything transpired, honestly, right now. It sucks in a lot of ways. Second hurts a whole lot worse than third.

“To be that close ... I can’t even see it on the photo right now. It looks like somebody took it with a 1940s camera.”

The victory was the second of the season for Larson and second at Kansas Speedway, where he won during his Cup championship season of 2021. It was the 25th of his career.

The race, which was delayed 3 hours, 12 minutes by rain, had just about everything. It featured 27 lead changes, with 10 different leaders, including Denny Hamlin, who led a race-high 71 laps going into the overtime finish.

Hamlin and Buescher were dueling 1-2 for most of the third stage before Kyle Busch spun out on lap 260 of 267, creating the green-white-checker overtime. Larson had been lurking third before the restart, and he and Buescher broke out side-by-side to the finish.

Larson, who lost last spring’s race when Hamlin shoved him into the wall, banged Buescher’s door twice on the final lap before they arrived at the start-finish line in a virtual tie.

“That was wild,’ Larson said. “We got lucky they threw a caution. We were dying pretty bad. I was happy to come out third (for the restart) and figured my best shot was for me to choose bottom and try and split three wide to the inside. Just incredible, incredible finish there.

“With eight (laps) to go, we did not to deserve to win this race But a caution fell, we executed a great pit stop, we executed a good green-white-checkered, we took advantage, and we’re sitting here right now. It’s hard to win these Cup races. I feel like a lot of times the winner is like that. You just have to put yourself in the position.”

The victory was an ideal way to start the month of May for Larson, who competed twice over the weekend on the dirt at Lakeside Speedway and will attempt the racing double, competing in the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600, on May 26.

“Yeah, I think it definitely helps confidence anytime you can run good,” he said. “It’s been a while since I have had consecutive podiums. I was able to finish second last week at Dover; second in Jacksonville in a Sprint Car; third the first night at Lakeside and second (Saturday) night; and then carried it on into a win today.

“So, another good track for us next week at Darlington and hopefully go back-to-back there. Then get in the INDYCAR and hopefully learn a bunch and just be competitive when we get to the 500.”

Larson’s teammate Chase Elliott finished third, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.

Todd Engle contributed to this report.