NASCAR's premier racing division, the NASCAR Cup Series, has seen many close finishes since the electronic scoring system was instituted in May during the 1993 season. As of 2024, the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Cup Series is 0.001 seconds at the 2024 AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, as Kyle Larson crossed the finish line inches ahead of Chris Buescher. [1]
Prior to the introduction of integrated electronic scoring in May 1993, margins of victory were scored in laps, car lengths, or feet, or inches, using handheld stopwatches or analog timing clocks. [2] This occasionally led to controversy, such as occurred in the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959. Initially, NASCAR declared the race won by Johnny Beauchamp, but many observers felt that Lee Petty had won. It took 61 hours before video evidence established Petty as the winner. [3]
Beginning with the 1993 Save Mart Supermarkets 300K, scoring was standardized to the thousandth of a second using transponders located on the vehicles and timing lines around the track. Geoff Bodine won the first event using this electronic scoring, finishing 0.53 seconds ahead of Ernie Irvan. [4]
| * | Event was not part of the regular season |
Kevin Michael Harvick is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for NASCAR on Fox.
Martin Lee Truex Jr. is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving a Toyota Camry XSE. He is the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion and a two-time Xfinity Series champion, having won two consecutive championships in 2004 and 2005.
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 is a stock car racing event in the NASCAR Cup Series that has been held annually at Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point in Sonoma, California since 1989. The 218.9-mile (352.3 km) race has been known as the Toyota/Save Mart 350 since 2007.
The Pala Casino 400 was a 400-mile (643.737 km) NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It was the second race of the Cup Series season during its final years as well as from 2005 to 2010.
The Daytona 300, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the United Rentals 300, is the first race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, 300-mile-long (483 km) held at Daytona International Speedway. It is held the day before the Daytona 500, and is considered the most prestigious event of the Xfinity Series. Until 2002, it was the only event of the Xfinity Series to be annually held at Daytona International Speedway. Austin Hill won the three most recent races, in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 53rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 30th modern-era Cup series. It began on February 11, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was declared as the series champion for the fourth time in seven years.
The 2007 Pepsi 400 was the 18th race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and held on July 7, 2007, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Kyle Miyata Larson is an American professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro for the same team, and part-time in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 17 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. Before and throughout his stock car racing career, Larson has been highly successful in dirt track racing, with wins in countless prestigious events including the Kings Royal, Knoxville Nationals, and the Chili Bowl Nationals. He also raced in many other forms of racing as an overall winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race, having won the event with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2015. Larson was named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. In 2024, Larson set a NASCAR record at Kansas for the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
Christopher William Buescher is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing. He is the 2012 ARCA Racing Series and 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and the cousin of 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher.
Tyler George Reddick is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, and part-time in the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. He is a two-time champion in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, winning consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, Reddick set a NASCAR record at Daytona for the closest finish in NASCAR Xfinity Series history by 0.0004 seconds.
The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 67th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 44th modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race, the Budweiser Duels, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kyle Busch won the championship, despite missing the first third of the season due to severe leg injuries suffered in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona. Busch also became the first Toyota driver to win a Cup championship. Despite not running the full season, Brett Moffitt was named Rookie of the Year.
The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 68th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 45th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited, the Can-Am Duel and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports won his seventh drivers' championship, tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for most all-time. Toyota won the manufacturer's championship, becoming the first manufacturer to win the manufacturer's championship other than Chevrolet since 2002.
The 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was the 69th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 46th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts Clash, the Can-Am Duel qualifying races and the 59th running of the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson entered the season as the defending champion, having won his record-tying seventh Cup championship that he shares with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Martin Truex Jr. of Furniture Row Racing won the championship, his first in the series. Toyota won the Manufacturers' Championship for the second year in a row.
The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was the 70th season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 47th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts Clash, the Can-Am Duel qualifying races and the 60th running of the Daytona 500. The regular season ended with the Brickyard 400 on September 9, 2018. The playoffs ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2018. Martin Truex Jr. was the defending champion, having won his first in the series.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series was the 73rd season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 50th season for the modern era Cup Series. The season started at Daytona International Speedway with the Busch Clash, where it was the first year that the non-points event was run on the track's road course layout instead of the oval. That race was followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races, and the 63rd running of the Daytona 500, the first points race of the season. The regular season also ended at Daytona with the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 on August 28, where Kyle Larson won the Regular Season Championship. Following the 2021 Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 31, Chevrolet claimed its 40th Manufacturer's Championship and its first since 2015. The NASCAR playoffs ended with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on November 7 with Larson earning his first Cup Series championship after a 10-win season.
The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series was the 74th season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 51st season for the modern Cup Series. The 2022 season marked the debut of the Next Gen Car, which was originally supposed to debut in 2021, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this was the first season to have races covered by USA Network, which took over for the now-defunct NBCSN.
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series was the 75th season for NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 52nd season for the modern-era Cup Series. The season started with the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on February 5. That race was followed by the Daytona Duel qualifying races and the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on February 19, both at Daytona International Speedway. The season ended with the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on November 5.
The 2023 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race and the 65th running of the event. It was held on Sunday, February 19, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the first race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series. Jimmie Johnson returned to the Cup Series for Legacy Motor Club in this race. This was the longest Daytona 500 in history going 530 miles.
The 2024 AdventHealth 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on May 5, 2024, at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Contested over 268 laps -- extended from 267 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) asphalt speedway, it was the 12th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season and played host to the closest finish in NASCAR Cup series history at 0.001 seconds between the winner, Kyle Larson, and Chris Buescher, who finished 2nd.
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