List of the closest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finishes
NASCAR's premiere racing division, the Sprint Cup Series, has seen many close finishes since the electronic scoring system was instituted in May during the 1993 season. To date the closest finish margin in the Sprint Cup Series is 0.002 seconds. This first occurred during the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. Ricky Craven won the race in a stunning, side-panel-rubbing battle to the checkers with Kurt Busch at Darlington Raceway. At the start-finish line, Craven edged out Busch by mere inches.[1] In 2011, this was the second-closest at the 2011 Aaron's 499 at the Talladega Superspeedway, where Jimmie Johnson beat out Clint Bowyer by mere inches with racecars four abreast at the start-finish line.
History
Close finishes have been a part of the sport since the beginning of stock-car racing. One notable photo finish occurred in the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959. Initially, NASCAR declared the race won by Johnny Beauchamp, but many fans felt that Lee Petty had won. It took 61 hours before the win was finally awarded to Petty.
Beginning May 1993, NASCAR switched from using handheld stopwatches or analog timing clocks to integrated electronic scoring.[2]
Before margins of victory were scored in laps, car lengths or feet. Geoff Bodine defeated Ernie Irvan by 0.53 seconds in the 1993 Save Mart Supermarkets 300K. It was the first race utilizing electronic scoring. Now scoring can be measured down to seconds, or fractions of a second.
Close finishes are not limited to the Cup Series. There have also been some photo finishes in the lower divisions. On October 30, 2010, in the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, Kyle Busch beat out Aric Almirola by 0.002 seconds, tying the record set by Terry Labonte over Joe Nemechek in the 1999 Touchstone Energy 300. The closest finish in the history of NASCAR's top three divisions (since 1993) occurred in the 1995 SuperTruck Total Petroleum 200 at Colorado National Speedway. Butch Miller beat Mike Skinner by only 0.001 second.
Closest finishes
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series closest finishes |
Rank |
Race |
Margin |
Winner |
2nd Place |
Track |
Date |
7000100000000000000♠1 |
2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 |
0.002 |
Ricky Craven |
Kurt Busch |
Darlington Raceway |
March 16, 2003 |
7000100000000000000♠1 |
2011 Aaron's 499 |
0.002 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Clint Bowyer |
Talladega Superspeedway |
April 17, 2011 |
7000300000000000000♠3 |
2001 Gatorade Duel 2 |
0.004 |
Mike Skinner |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 15, 2001 |
7000400000000000000♠4 |
2011 Gatorade Duel 2 |
0.005 |
Jeff Burton |
Clint Bowyer |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 17, 2011 |
7000400000000000000♠4 |
2007 Pepsi 400 |
0.005 |
Jamie McMurray |
Kyle Busch |
Daytona International Speedway |
July 7, 2007 |
7000400000000000000♠4 |
1993 DieHard 500 |
0.005 |
Dale Earnhardt |
Ernie Irvan |
Talladega Superspeedway |
July 25, 1993 |
7000400000000000000♠4 |
2016 Sprint Showdown Segment 1 |
0.005 |
Trevor Bayne |
Chase Elliott |
Charlotte Motor Speedway |
May 20, 2016 |
7000700000000000000♠7 |
2010 Gatorade Duel 1 |
0.006 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Kevin Harvick |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 11, 2010 |
7000700000000000000♠7 |
2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 |
0.006 |
Kevin Harvick |
Jeff Gordon |
Atlanta Motor Speedway |
March 11, 2001 |
7000900000000000000♠9 |
1994 Pepsi 400 |
0.008 |
Jimmy Spencer |
Ernie Irvan |
Daytona International Speedway |
July 2, 1994 |
7001100000000000000♠10 |
2012 Budweiser Shootout |
0.010 |
Kyle Busch |
Tony Stewart |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 18, 2012 |
7001100000000000000♠10 |
2004 Subway 400 |
0.010 |
Matt Kenseth |
Kasey Kahne |
North Carolina Speedway |
February 22, 2004 |
7001100000000000000♠10 |
2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 |
0.010 |
Dale Earnhardt |
Bobby Labonte |
Atlanta Motor Speedway |
March 12, 2000 |
7001100000000000000♠10 |
2016 Good Sam 500[3] |
0.010 |
Kevin Harvick |
Carl Edwards |
Phoenix International Raceway |
March 13, 2016 |
7001100000000000000♠10 |
2016 Daytona 500[4] |
0.010 |
Denny Hamlin |
Martin Truex, Jr. |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 21, 2016 |
7001150000000000000♠15 |
2010 Aaron's 499 |
0.011 |
Kevin Harvick |
Jamie McMurray |
Talladega Superspeedway |
April 25, 2010 |
7001160000000000000♠16 |
2010 Gatorade Duel 2 |
0.014 |
Kasey Kahne |
Tony Stewart |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 11, 2010 |
7001170000000000000♠17 |
2005 Ford 400 |
0.017 |
Greg Biffle |
Mark Martin |
Homestead-Miami Speedway |
November 20, 2005 |
7001180000000000000♠18 |
2011 Good Sam Club 500 |
0.018 |
Clint Bowyer |
Jeff Burton |
Talladega Superspeedway |
October 23, 2011 |
7001190000000000000♠19 |
2007 Daytona 500 |
0.020 |
Kevin Harvick |
Mark Martin |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 18, 2007 |
7001200000000000000♠20 |
2014 Budweiser Duel 1 |
0.022 |
Matt Kenseth |
Kasey Kahne |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 20, 2014 |
7001210000000000000♠21 |
1994 Diehard 500 |
0.025 |
Jimmy Spencer |
Bill Elliott |
Talladega Superspeedway |
July 24, 1994 |
7001220000000000000♠22 |
2005 Coca-Cola 600 |
0.027 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Bobby Labonte |
Lowe's Motor Speedway |
May 29, 2005 |
7001230000000000000♠23 |
2005 Golden Corral 500 |
0.028 |
Carl Edwards |
Jimmie Johnson |
Atlanta Motor Speedway |
March 20, 2005 |
7001240000000000000♠24 |
2004 Samsung/Radio Shack 500 |
0.028 |
Elliott Sadler |
Kasey Kahne |
Texas Motor Speedway |
April 5, 2004 |
7001250000000000000♠25 |
1997 Pepsi 400 |
0.029 |
John Andretti |
Terry Labonte |
Daytona International Speedway |
July 5, 1997 |
7001260000000000000♠26 |
2005 Gatorade Duel 1 |
0.030 |
Michael Waltrip |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 17, 2005 |
7001270000000000000♠27 |
2006 UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400 |
0.045 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Matt Kenseth |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway |
March 12, 2006 |
7001280000000000000♠28 |
1995 Diehard 500 |
0.050 |
Sterling Marlin |
Dale Jarrett |
Talladega Superspeedway |
July 23, 1995 |
7001290000000000000♠29 |
1998 Exide Select Batteries 400 |
0.051 |
Jeff Burton |
Jeff Gordon |
Richmond International Raceway |
September 12, 1998 |
7001300000000000000♠30 |
2008 Amp Energy 500 |
0.052 |
Tony Stewart |
Paul Menard |
Talladega Superspeedway |
October 5, 2008 |
7001310000000000000♠31 |
2011 Budweiser Shootout |
0.058 |
Kurt Busch |
Jamie McMurray |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 12, 2011 |
7001320000000000000♠32 |
2011 Coke Zero 400 |
0.059 |
David Ragan |
Matt Kenseth |
Daytona International Speedway |
July 2, 2011 |
7001330000000000000♠33 |
2002 Aaron's 499 |
0.060 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Michael Waltrip |
Talladega Superspeedway |
April 21, 2002 |
7001340000000000000♠34 |
2007 Food City 500 |
0.064 |
Kyle Busch |
Jeff Burton |
Bristol Motor Speedway |
March 25, 2007 |
7001350000000000000♠35 |
2011 Gatorade Duel 1 |
0.065 |
Kurt Busch |
Regan Smith |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 17, 2011 |
7001360000000000000♠36 |
2007 Goody's Cool Orange 500 |
0.065 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Jeff Gordon |
Martinsville Speedway |
April 1, 2007 |
7001370000000000000♠37 |
2007 UAW-Ford 500 |
0.066 |
Jeff Gordon |
Jimmie Johnson |
Talladega Superspeedway |
October 7, 2007 |
7001380000000000000♠38 |
1994 Winston Select 500 |
0.067 |
Dale Earnhardt |
Ernie Irvan |
Talladega Superspeedway |
May 1, 1994 |
7001390000000000000♠39 |
2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 |
0.068 |
Denny Hamlin |
Jeff Gordon |
New Hampshire Motor Speedway |
July 1, 2007 |
7001400000000000000♠40 |
2005 MBNA NASCAR RacePoints 400 |
0.080 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Kyle Busch |
Dover International Speedway |
September 25, 2005 |
7001410000000000000♠41 |
2004 Banquet 400 |
0.081 |
Joe Nemechek |
Ricky Rudd |
Kansas Speedway |
October 10, 2004 |
7001420000000000000♠42 |
2001 Kmart 400 |
0.085 |
Jeff Gordon |
Ricky Rudd |
Michigan International Speedway |
June 10, 2001 |
7001430000000000000♠43 |
2008 Daytona 500 |
0.092 |
Ryan Newman |
Kurt Busch |
Daytona International Speedway |
February 17, 2008 |
7001440000000000000♠44 |
2010 Coke Zero 400 |
0.092 |
Kevin Harvick |
Kasey Kahne |
Daytona International Speedway |
July 3, 2010 |
7001450000000000000♠45 |
2003 EA Sports 500 |
0.095 |
Michael Waltrip |
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
Talladega Superspeedway |
September 28, 2003 |
7001460000000000000♠46 |
2009 Sharpie 500 |
0.098 |
Kyle Busch |
Mark Martin |
Bristol Motor Speedway |
August 22, 2009 |
See also
References
External links