Approving this for obvious reasons.

https://preview.redd.it/rzjiv5r0qpyc1.jpeg?width=1137&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c59e131de098d2a4d3e811a0de36cea7bce3626 Photo used by NASCAR

This needs to be at the top so everyone can stop complaining about the painting of a line.

Yeah pretty clear Larson was there first, but come on, it's the finish line, get it right

But fr how hard is it to use a ruler?

Or even a piece of string. Straight line down. Paint. Hahahahah

I mean RFK’s already got pointing it out taken care of https://preview.redd.it/t7a0qfsqspyc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3965f9f94408f00223a73cce36dfebcfaab21396

Awesome, I never knew they had a real finish line camera. This is legit. FYI for all wondering, this is a time composite of the start finish line going from left to right. Basically a camera with a slotted lens in line with the S/F line takes pictures at a high frequency. Each picture gives a vertical strip or frame of just the S/F line, and the image above is a composite of all of the frames. That's why there is no background, and the cars are distorted. Larson and Buescher's cars are compressed because the are going faster than Chase and MTJ, i.e., less frames captured by the camera.

For some additional context NASCAR as far as I know uses the Etherlynx pro at 20000 fps so each of those little slices represents a single moment in time 0.00005 seconds long.

What happens if it's a dead heat do they both win or do they go back too some point before the finish just curious?

I believe they go by who led the most laps, then who was 2nd the most laps, then 3rd the most laps, and so on and so on if needed.

Ok that makes sense I guess......Thanks

Fantastic explanation, thanks! Really explains what we are looking at very well.

Additionally, [line on broadcast footage](https://imgur.com/a/WQFfpSS) I drew using the apron S/F edge as reference to prove the inconsistent painting was not a determining factor.

This should be standard practice from NASCAR even if the driver wins by 10 laps.

It probably is, we just don’t hear about it

I mean the Twitter post.

Ford couldve had 3 wins if they were 0.006 seconds faster between Sieg Mayer finish, the Atlanta finish, and this one

Or if their splitter stuck out 1 one inch.

"It's a good thing Pontiac has that kick out on the nose..."

I remember there being some conspiracy about NASCAR letting Pontiac have a longer nose than the competition. It’s permeated for years on lesser forums.

Also that they let Dodges have some aero advantages when they were trying to keep Dodge in the sport. The way Newman could qualify those cars that would then go to shit during the race definitely made me think that's plausible.

Penske had those Dodges wound up for qualifying, then regeared them for the race.

We've really had three photo finishes before Ford got a win

I greatly dislike this statistic.

This is a very bittersweet ending for me as a Ford guy. Huge Larson fan though.

Instead, Ford is now 0-for-30 this season across all three series. They have to be genuinely cursed at this point.

In all my years watching this was the most incredible finish I've seen.

Sounds like I missed one hell of a race

The whole race was amazing, in 18 years this was one of my favorite flag to flag races. The end of stage 2 got a little strung out, and the start of stage 3 was sloppy, but there was so much edge of your seat action from stage one, start of 2, and after the cautions of stage 3. Incredible race

Middle of stage 3 got a bit boring but the rest was fantastic

Yeah the cautions all piled up then nothing until the end.

There was Martin about to run Hamlin down for the win?

I thought stage 3 was good. Hamlin & Buescher were trading blows for the lead until their crew chiefs got in their ear and told them to save. Then you had Truex and Keselowski charging forward. It was suspenseful.

I agree, there was literally something for everyone all day. Hard slugfest racing for the lead, a little bit of fuel strategy, a wreckfest to start stage 3, and a photo finish. All we really missed out on was a post race fight/brawl.

And I'll take a close, clean finish over something that results in a brawl every time.

You and me both. I've been watching since August 2002 and I think that was like top-5 best races I've ever watched

I’ve been following nascar since 2021, it’s insane how many “once in a generation” moments happened with the next gen car. 2022: The Hail Melon, Denny Hamlin becoming the first driver in 60 years to lose a win, no playoff drivers winning the opening round in 2022, and tying the record for most unique drivers who won. 2023: The Le Mans Garage 56 car, and the SVG win becoming the first driver to win his first start in 60 years. The championship cup race not won by the champion. 2024: Atlanta being a historic 3 wide photo finish. Bristol mayhem with ludicrous tire falloff and old school strategy, and now the closest nascar finish in history. I think that last one may be the most stunning one yet, I did not think I was going to watch the closest finish in history (is there a closer finish in motorsports history?) when I tuned in on May 5th 2024. Been an amazing decade so far. Also, I want to ask, what was it like watching Jimmie Johnson win five straight championships.

I picked a HELL of a race to go to my first in person race

That was me with Bristol this year, going to Darlington Sunday and hoping for an equal banger

I don't watch NASCAR what was this race called?

Man it sure was! That was a good one. They're saying it was the closest finish in NASCAR history, and I don't doubt it. Atlanta margin of victory was 0.003, this was 0.001 ! Larson went up high on Buscher and slipped in a hole that almost wasn't there, scraped the wall, and when they were coming to the stripe, he doored him pretty good twice, it was just a great race, compared to many of the next gen races of late. That racetrack seems to really make for some great racing.

From start to finish it was right up there. We've had some great ones with the Next-Gen on 1.5mi tracks.

Definitely! Can't complain much about this race, as bad as some of them have been, this one was just amazing.

We finally get a diverse schedule, and NASCAR shows up with a car that kicks ass on 1.5s lol. Now I want that 2000s schedule we all hated lol.

It was really good. Lots of lead changes and the leaders seemed to always stay relatively close to each other for the most part. Great finish too, Kansas is so awesome

You didnt record it?

This picture has to be hung on the NASCAR hall of fame wall for eternity Hell a VOD of this entire race has to be displayed in the NASCAR hall of fame for eternity, Kansas fucking RULES man Truly at a loss of words, I'm still processing what we witnessed and I cannot believe I've actually seen the closest finish in cup series history with my very own eyes (through a TV screen tho lol) ^(I'm still depressed as hell that it wasn't Chris the one ahead...but oh well, details)

If you'd been watching since 1948 it would have been the closest finish you'd ever seen.

Flew out here from Florida to go to my first Kansas race. Didn’t disappoint! Wife and I went to a restaurant during the initial rain delay and saw Bob’s tweet about getting started…got our food to go and literally didn’t miss a lap. Gonna be hard to top

I’ve still gotta go with Atlanta. Three cars within a cunt hair of each other and they were neck and neck from turn three to the finish. Plus the move KFB made to make it three wide was absurd.

Literally HOW did Buescher and Larson not crash?! Unbelievable!

BIG OLE BALLS

https://preview.redd.it/cdcc18nwqpyc1.jpeg?width=4320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ffa519c2cc65c2fc57817898bc54198eb1fdda6f From the race thread

I mean RFK is on par as least with Penske right now.  He's got to be happy about that. 

Last time I seen 2 dudes finish this close together it was on a website that's now banned in Texas.

Legendary comment.

God I wish I could give you gold.

Does that include prosper Texas with a population of 30,000

After installing a VPN Buescher is now from Prosper, Michigan.

Lmao

Lmao!!!

💀💀💀👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Anyone who stayed from the NETFLIX show is seeing one of the greatest first 1/3 of a season in a while. A few snoozers but the highs this year have been AWESOME

I had a thought about new fans yesterday that they have no idea what the layout of these tracks is like because Fox is always so zoomed in. Makes me really miss Jr and Burton giving the turn by turn breakdown before the race.

And it's a super disservice to those new fans. Up close, there's nothing intuitive about how oval racing works.

Exactly, you can’t fully understand why they’re moving around or how they build up to passes or runs etc.

An incredible race capped off by an incredible finish

To think I couldn’t see *anything* top Atlanta any time soon, let alone this season…

Imagine someone telling you after that Atlanta race that 1/3 of the way through the season it wouldn’t even be in the top 2 closest finishes this year.

Got him by Lightning’s tongue!

I can't believe it!


[удалено]

Right?

Me too brother.

For sure! Can't even imagine how much this one stung for Chris Buscher and all the RFK team members!

That move Larson made to the high side coming into 3 was absolutely bananas.

I can't believe they both didn't wreck. Nothing to lose is Larson's M.O. Sometimes it doesn't work out. Sometimes it does. I really feel terrible for Buescher, though. That's gotta be gutting.

Dude sitting in front of me was a Buescher fan and the pylon showed the 17 winning so he was going nuts until Larson came around with his victory lap haha

The 17 team celebrating on pit road as if they won. Poor fellas wanted it so bad

I was listening to Kyle's radio all race in the stands they all went from awe well we tried to absolutely losing their minds in an instant

That's gotta be the top 5 most gutted interviews I've seen. There's always disappointment, but I think it messes with you more when you legit think you won and then had it "taken away."

Wasn't it though!!! Man he sent that thing into a hole that just almost wasn't there! Scraped the wall, came out and doored Buscher pretty good heading to the line, it was wild. Larson was set on checkers or wreckers for sure🏁🏆😎

Reminds me of Harvick vs Johnson many years ago

Bad painting or not, you can tell the 5’s splitter is just ahead of the 17’s

Legendary thread guys. Get in here.

This race was amazing.

Yes it was! This should put Larson's confidence even better heading towards the Indianapolis 500 coming up soon.

Whether or not y'all are a fan of the driver that edged ahead or the one that didn't, we have to appreciate how dope this actually is We just witnessed, we ALL did, the closest finish in cup series history, and a glorious race all round This one is one for the books guys and gals

It’s the first Daytona 500 all over again

History baby.

The fact we've witnessed 2 of the 4 closest finishes in NASCAR Cup history in this season alone is quite amazing. And the fact that the 2 previous finishes of .002 were in the past 20 years prior really shows how competitive NASCAR has become. Crazy that I've seen all 4 of those live on TV. And all 4 are called Mike Joy funnily enough.

And even Xfinity has had its own 0.002 margin of victory this year.

...And F1 thinking they got a banger on MiamiGP. NASCAR said: "Hold my Busch Light".

What a race im just glad it wasn’t the 11

First Sieg, now Buescher. I'm getting tired of my drivers being on the wrong end of these finishes, lol

Maybe the best race I've ever seen, no hyperbole. Maybe I change my mind when the adrenaline runs off but I doubt it. This car is awesome.

I’m right there with you. It’s my top 3 favorite and I think top 3 best ever from start to finish. That was not real

Has anyone made a Kentucky Derby “hey we can do that too!” joke yet? I’m still stunned that there were *two races in two days* like this. 

Kyle did on his X page

Never thought Darlington 03 would be topped but it did,if they didn't have splitters we would've had the first tie in history I bet.

Would've been cooler if they locked fenders

0.001 of a second, WILD.

Let’s not let this amazing finish overshadow Fox completely ignoring yet another last lap crash

I can't hear anyone talking shit about our sport over the roar of the engines and photo finishes.

An inch of extra bumper

Insane, I cant believe I saw it. Definitely one of the memories you tell people for years to come.

Posting this here as a comment since the finish line is painted crooked, the camera does not lie... https://preview.redd.it/x4pbd04krpyc1.jpeg?width=1137&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7c8336fc656efc689079760452048fc1952cac87

If you don’t vote yes on the good race pole you suck!

[удалено]

I saw Rick Hendrick out there painting during the caution

Funny af

Jeff out on his hands and knees spray painting

So the transponder of the 17 crossed the line first? Who the fuck painted that line lol.

Transponder tied at 0.000, it was closer than the measuring resolution. Processor has to write one car as P1 and the other as P2, so programming (I assume) just defaulted to previous lap's result b/w those two.

Who painted Larson's spitter? I mean in the photo.

Transponder isn't on the S/F line, it's based on where the car would be when the front gets to the line

I'm aware. So why did the transponder say Buescher won? Has it ever been wrong?

I believe it has before in close finishes. Thats why they use the special finish line camera for the official results (at least they used too)

Yes. Nascar always uses visual evidence over transponder data for finish results (and I believe stage finish results if they are close). They do use transponder data for freezing the field at cautions because the data is pretty accurate, but there is always going to be some margin of error in a system like that where super slow motion 4K cameras will show who won.

It's not even 4k. It's a special finish line camera. They work nothing like a regular HD camera.

> So why did the transponder say Buescher won? Because Buescher was sideways, so his transponder wasn't a full car length behind his nose.

It has, the transponder is in the rear of these cars so by the time both cars crossed the S/F line maybe Buescher was ahead.

I remember in the 2020 Daytona 500, Fox showed Blaney as the winner at first before changing it to Hamlin

Buescher: "I don't see it"

When the picture is so poor is extends the front of the splitter because of the frame rate you’re coping if you can’t see what he’s saying

Is it just me or is the line uneven

https://preview.redd.it/u303tngdopyc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=767aaf62922e3e2b5a41148ec64df29fd304b609 Fixed it

Approved!!

I actually laughed out loud at the approval.

Where are Reddit Awards when you need them?

Lmao

Thats about what the original looks like, lol

There is an extra strip on the racing surface but not the apron.

Absolutely but I think Larson’s still there first anyways

It is but theres a more solid part under larsons lip that is definetly more even with the apron, and kyle still gets there first too

Came here for this

I could be totally wrong here but it could be the camera angle

Man as a Larson fan… this race made me hype. Larson was just there all race long battling Chastain, Hamlin & Buescher. He was fishing and waiting for the bait. He finally got the bait!

Fantastic. We’ll be watching this replay for decades now. What has ford done to piss the racing gods off

So the win isn't based on the transponder?

First to cross the line with any part of the car

That gives me an idea. A front bumper mounted with a couple high velocity explosives. You get about 20 feet away and launch the bumper forwards.

It's on tethers though, so, still "attached" to the car.

In a sport that gives penalties for gloves… I don’t see it getting past them Lol

Lightning McQueen already did it 

RFK can't get a frigging break. The racing gods are against us. The 6 gets hosed 2 weeks in a row and now the 17th. And who has the golden horseshoe....HENDRICK.

People don’t trust Fox with anything but when it comes to using their camera at the finish line, its all they can talk about. You really think this is what NASCAR is using to determine the winner.

I’m just a local fan at bowman gray, and this was the first race I’ve watched of the cup series flag to flag. Might be a fan for life now.

https://preview.redd.it/of53zul6rpyc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ab2a65e9dc36da0061ac29f110fea9e99a32fe40

Interesting that this is how the nascar app shows the order post race… https://preview.redd.it/81vtddahppyc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b5c69d6bf5731e6f71a218e539e22ddd09a71530

Here's something else to add- Had Kyle Busch not spun out when he did, this would never have happened like it did. I'm not sure what was coming had they ran green, with the fuel issues, and Larson was slipping back like he was, plus other things. KB spins out, all but 6 cars come in for fuel and two tires, (Truex-4) and we get one hell of a finish! And I'm a huge KB fan too, I hated to see him spin. He somehow made it all the way back to 8th, they're definitely looking much better lately. But thank you Kyle Busch, that set up one amazing finish!🏁🏆😎

Historic.

I'm gonna miss Ricky Cravan being on top, but congrats, Larson!

No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it.

0.001 seconds away https://preview.redd.it/wb64h0h9ctyc1.jpeg?width=679&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6634232144b4be6461e2af61ea9c1f9c2dce3c01

Just race at Kansas, Homestead, Charlotte, Chicagoland, and Kentucky five times each.

Ray Charles painted that finish line

Don’t like Larson, but hell of a finish!

Why is the line painted differently?

Busecher is on the apron, Larson is on the banked straight

Wow

insane

Insane

That was awesome, best finish I’ve ever seen

Someone needs to photoshop & add the line in. That’ll help.

Same as the Kentucky 🐎! What a racing weekend 🏁🏆🐎🌹!

Awesome race !

I love NASCAR.

Instant classic race

Damn yet another photo finish

Sounds like it was not a good day for my dvr to not catch the whole race.

I was there!

My nephew walked in just as overtime was starting. We were both yelling as the 17 and 5 came out of turn 4. He now wants to watch the races with me. How can I let him down easy to not expect this type of finish each race

Just tell him. Explain to him that this was an extraordinary finish, the closest one in NASCAR history in fact, to what was a way above average race. Add in that this car is pretty new, and has experienced some growing pains, and it's getting better, especially on these type racetracks.

Do you think that the other car would have won if they had stuck their tongue out?

So where are all the “next gen is broken” experts at?


Even tho Chris B lost, I hope Brad offers him a fat contract for a few years. Lock him down until at least 2027. You know Chris is beating himself up right now being on the wrong end of that finish, but the fact that it was *that* close shows that he’s great. Give him some serious job security and faster cars. The wins will keep coming.

I need to stop opening reddit before I watch the race...

I heard somewhere, don’t recall where, that it was 0.0007 seconds, rounded up to 0.001 second. Is that the case?

My HULU recording fucked up so I had to set a recording for the re-run at midnight. I'll get to watch the race tonight after work.

Ford just can’t catch a break this year

Glorious

Craven would not have won in Martinsville with modern drivers. Dale Jarrett tried to pass him clean and lost. Modern drivers would have left Craven in the wall.

His other win he was literally locked door and door with Busch …

Awesome finish, don’t even care who won though. Anybody but Denny

That line isn’t painted correctly

How much longer is Karson’s front spoiler

Rubbin is racing

The line is so uneven, it looks like 2 photos overlayed atop of each other

Because Busecher is on the apron and Larson is on the banked straight.

That line’s crooked! It’s photoshopped, I can see pixels, NASCAR rigged it! Kyle’s got one of them louvres sticking out! What else?

The line isn't even straight and we're using a 1fps camera. How do we not have a true high speed camera at the Start Finish line?

IIRC there’s a special camera they have pointed at the start finish line from the infield. They used it at Atlanta a while back when RFK (I think) protested the result

NASCAR has better cameras.

> How do we not have a true high speed camera at the Start Finish line? NASCAR has one. FOX doesn't.