List of the closest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finishes

Ricky Craven (#32) edges out Kurt Busch (#97) at the line in the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400.

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 in the Sprint Cup Series is 0.002 seconds, happening twice. The 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 matched 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. Geoffrey 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 Raceway. Butch Miller beat Mike Skinner by only 0.001 second.

Closest finishes

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series closest finishes
Race	Margin (seconds)	Winner	2nd Place	Track	Date
2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400	0.002	Ricky Craven	Kurt Busch	Darlington Raceway	March 16, 2003
2011 Aaron's 499	0.002	Jimmie Johnson	Clint Bowyer	Talladega Superspeedway	April 17, 2011
2001 Gatorade 125 2	0.004	Mike Skinner	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Daytona International Speedway	February 15, 2001
2011 Gatorade Duel 2	0.005	Jeff Burton	Clint Bowyer	Daytona International Speedway	February 17, 2011
2007 Pepsi 400	0.005	Jamie McMurray	Kyle Busch	Daytona International Speedway	July 7, 2007
1993 DieHard 500	0.005	Dale Earnhardt	Ernie Irvan	Talladega Superspeedway	July 25, 1993
2010 Gatorade Duel 1	0.006	Jimmie Johnson	Kevin Harvick	Daytona International Speedway	February 11, 2010
2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500	0.006	Kevin Harvick	Jeff Gordon	Atlanta Motor Speedway	March 11, 2001
1994 Pepsi 400	0.008	Jimmy Spencer	Ernie Irvan	Daytona International Speedway	July 2, 1994
2004 Subway 400	0.010	Matt Kenseth	Kasey Kahne	North Carolina Speedway	February 22, 2004
2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500	0.010	Dale Earnhardt	Bobby Labonte	Atlanta Motor Speedway	March 12, 2000
2010 Aaron's 499	0.011	Kevin Harvick	Jamie McMurray	Talladega Superspeedway	April 25, 2010
2010 Gatorade Duel 2	0.014	Kasey Kahne	Tony Stewart	Daytona International Speedway	February 11, 2010
2005 Ford 400	0.017	Greg Biffle	Mark Martin	Homestead-Miami Speedway	November 20, 2005
2011 Good Sam Club 500	0.018	Clint Bowyer	Jeff Burton	Talladega Superspeedway	October 23, 2011
2007 Daytona 500	0.020	Kevin Harvick	Mark Martin	Daytona International Speedway	February 18, 2007
1994 Diehard 500	0.025	Jimmy Spencer	Bill Elliott	Talladega Superspeedway	July 24, 1994
2005 Coca-Cola 600	0.027	Jimmie Johnson	Bobby Labonte	Lowe's Motor Speedway	May 29, 2005
2005 Golden Corral 500	0.028	Carl Edwards	Jimmie Johnson	Atlanta Motor Speedway	March 20, 2005
2004 Samsung/Radio Shack 500	0.028	Elliott Sadler	Kasey Kahne	Texas Motor Speedway	April 5, 2004
1997 Pepsi 400	0.029	John Andretti	Terry Labonte	Daytona International Speedway	July 5, 1997
2005 Gatorade Duel 1	0.030	Michael Waltrip	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Daytona International Speedway	February 17, 2005
2006 UAW Daimler-Chrysler 400	0.045	Jimmie Johnson	Matt Kenseth	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	March 12, 2006
1995 Diehard 500	0.050	Sterling Marlin	Dale Jarrett	Talladega Superspeedway	July 23, 1995
1998 Exide Select Batteries 400	0.051	Jeff Burton	Jeff Gordon	Richmond International Raceway	September 12, 1998
2008 Amp Energy 500	0.052	Tony Stewart	Paul Menard	Talladega Superspeedway	October 5, 2008
2011 Budweiser Shootout	0.058	Kurt Busch	Jamie McMurray	Daytona International Speedway	February 12, 2011
2011 Coke Zero 400	0.059	David Ragan	Matt Kenseth	Daytona International Speedway	July 2, 2011
2002 Aaron's 499	0.060	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Michael Waltrip	Talladega Superspeedway	April 21, 2002
2007 Food City 500	0.064	Kyle Busch	Jeff Burton	Bristol Motor Speedway	March 25, 2007
2011 Gatorade Duel 1	0.065	Kurt Busch	Regan Smith	Daytona International Speedway	February 17, 2011
2007 Goody's Cool Orange 500	0.065	Jimmie Johnson	Jeff Gordon	Martinsville Speedway	April 1, 2007
2007 UAW-Ford 500	0.066	Jeff Gordon	Jimmie Johnson	Talladega Superspeedway	October 7, 2007
1994 Winston Select 500	0.067	Dale Earnhardt	Ernie Irvan	Talladega Superspeedway	May 1, 1994
2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300	0.068	Denny Hamlin	Jeff Gordon	New Hampshire Motor Speedway	July 1, 2007
2005 MBNA NASCAR RacePoints 400	0.080	Jimmie Johnson	Kyle Busch	Dover International Speedway	September 25, 2005
2004 Banquet 400	0.081	Joe Nemechek	Ricky Rudd	Kansas Speedway	October 10, 2004
2001 Kmart 400	0.085	Jeff Gordon	Ricky Rudd	Michigan International Speedway	June 10, 2001

References

1. ^ 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400
2. ^ NASCAR's Analysis Shows Competition Has Become Closer

See also

• Sprint Cup Series
• Photo finish

External links

• NASCAR Sprint Cup Series closest finishes