(note: not affiliated with Close Call—don’t @ me, Brett Bodine fans)
Nascar has seen a spate of close finishes to start this season, so it got me thinking—what were the three closest finishes in each national touring series? Well, according to Wikipedia, here they are (notes: all since 1993, the year Nascar started timing races electronically, and all pictures are courtesy of Wikipedia):
CUP SERIES
1 (tie). 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 (Darlington), Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch by 0.002 seconds. Ok, you probably knew what this would be, but still, let’s remember how cool this win was. You had a likable journeyman in Ricky Craven winning Pontiac’s last race against a member of the Roush Racing juggernaut (yes, they were a big deal back then), complete with beatin’ and bangin’. Even better, both drivers were cool with each other post-race, and have loved reliving it since. And NO—just because some races end with a Hendrick driver running away from the field, that doesn’t mean that Nascar is “broken”.
1 (tie). 2011 Aaron’s 499 (Talladega), Jimmie Johnson over Clint Bowyer by 0.002 seconds. It’s no surprise to see Talladega on here, just like it’s no surprise to see Jimmie Johnson—former possessor of the “golden horseshoe”—having come out on top. The lack of rubbing fenders (which could’ve been dangerous at ‘Dega) likely keeps this race from being as memorable as Darlington in 2003, as does the participation of professional irritant/race-manipulator Clint Bowyer.
3. 2024 Ambetter Health 400 (Atlanta), Daniel Suarez over Ryan Blaney by 0.003 seconds. A blink-and-you-miss-it margin of victory from earlier this season. At the time it stood out as one of a string of exciting finishes to start the year. But by the fall it might stand out as one of the only wins by a non-Hendrick, non-Gibbs driver (and NO, it’s not fixed).
XFINITY SERIES
1. 2018 PowerShares QQQ 300 (Daytona), Tyler Reddick over Elliott Sadler by 0.0004 seconds. This race was a record-setter in multiple ways—not only was it the closest finish in Nascar history, but also had a record five overtime sessions. Another fun fact—since Nascar doesn’t measure beyond thousands of a second, technically this race ended with a 0.000 margin of victory. And while there hasn’t been a tie before for a win in Nascar competition, I’m guessing that if we did have one, the gambling world of Nascar would implode upon itself.
2 (tie). 1996 Sears Auto Center 250 (Milwaukee), Buckshot Jones over Mike McLaughlin by 0.002 seconds. So here we had a standalone race at a track located on a fairgrounds, sponsored by a company that no longer exists, featuring the first-ever win by a guy known as “Buckshot” over a guy nicknamed “Magic Shoes”. Yeah, 1990’s Nascar CUP was fun, but 1990’s Nascar Busch Series was about as out there as you could get.
2 (tie). 1999 Touchstone Energy 300 (Talladega), Terry Labonte over Joe Nemechek by 0.002 seconds. You know, I’m guessing that when this “win by an eyelash” moment happened, nobody cared that it was a Buschwhacker winning over another Buschwhacker. Of course, Twitter/X wasn’t around yet, so…
2 (tie). 2024 Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 (Texas), Sam Mayer over Ryan Sieg by 0.002 seconds. This was about as big of a heartbreaker as you could have, as Sieg—The Official Underdog of the Nascar Xfinity Series—came within inches of posting his first win. On the plus side, we got to hear him say “sucks” in his post-race interview four times.
TRUCKS
1. 1995 Total Petroleum 200 (Colorado), Butch Miller over Mike Skinner by 0.001 seconds. A quick history lesson—the inaugural year of the Truck Series was…odd. They ran primarily out west on short tracks (Colorado National Speedway was less than half a mile around) with a mix of veterans of regional series and former Cup and Busch Series part-timers. This led to some pretty cool races, such as this one, which for years stood as the closest finish across Nascar’s national touring series. By the way, Miller’s truck was owned by Brad Daughtery, BGNF (Before Giant Novelty Fork).
2. 2010 Mountain Dew 250 (Talladega), Kyle Busch over Aric Almirola by 0.002 seconds. Truck Series races have always put on great shows at plate tracks, and this one was no exception. This came in Almirola’s lone full Truck Series season, driving the always-competitive Billy Ballew machine to a second-place finish in the standings. Plus, Aric never smashed a commemorative guitar in victory lane in full-view of the designer (and yes, I know it didn’t happen in this race).
3 (tie). 2008 Cool City Customs 200 (Michigan), Erik Darnell over Johnny Benson by 0.005 seconds. It was the rookie over the veteran in this one, with Darnell edging out Benson at the finish line after dominating the latter stages of the race. While Darnell never had much success in Cup unlike, say, Kyle Busch, that was likely more of a function of the faltering economy of the time. Plus, Erik never spun Ron Hornaday Jr. out into the infield on the final lap of the race (and yes, this DID happen in this race).
3 (tie). 2015 NC Education Lottery 200 (Charlotte), Kasey Kahne over Erik Jones by 0.005 seconds. So here’s a fun fact—this was one of only six career Truck Series starts by Kasey Kahne. Of those six, he won FIVE of them, with the only non-victory being a second-place finish. Talk about domination!
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