NASCAR Cup Series
Kyle Larson Defeats Chris Buescher at Kansas in Closest Finish in NASCAR History
May 6, 2024
That was incredible, wasn't it? We were about an inch away from Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway ending in a tie between Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher.
But the race was much more than a great finish. There was action aplenty throughout the entirety of the 268-lap race. Here are all of the big video highlights from a race that produced 28 lead changes, and the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history.
The opening Stage of the race featured a thrilling battle for the lead between Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson. The two drivers fought tooth and nail for the lead for numerous laps.
As the laps clicked off in Stage 1, Denny Hamlin rose to the occasion at took the lead to score the Stage 1 victory.
As the race moved into the second Stage, the battle for the lead grew into a battle between Larson, Chastain, Hamlin, Christopher Bell -- oh and Chris Buescher, who made this insane FIVE-WIDE move for the runner-up spot on Lap 89:
Buescher would go on to win Stage 2.
Aside from the two Stage break cautions, the opening two Stages of the event remained caution-free, but things turned up a notch in the final Stage of the race.
The rash of cautions began on Lap 176, when Jimmie Johnson received a tap from Corey LaJoie heading into Turns 1 and 2. In an instant, the seven-time champion was done for the day.
Here is another look of the crash from LaJoie's on board camera:
On Lap 185, things continued to get wild as Denny Hamlin was forced wide in Turn 2 while battling four-wide for position with Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, and Joey Logano.
This pinched Cindric into the wall, which sent him spinning. Cindric would collect Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell, and Cindric's race would come to an end.
The fifth caution of the race would come out for a single-car spin by Harrison Burton on Lap 192. Burton's tires would go flat in the spin, and he would get stuck on track for a couple of laps before getting to pit road.
Joey Logano would suffer a similar fate on Lap 198 as Chase Briscoe slid up the track, which caused Logano to spin on the exit of Turn 4. Logano would cut his tires down, and get stuck for a few laps.
While the race remained green for 56 laps, the caution would come out with seven laps remaining as Kyle Busch went for a spin on his own.
This spin ruined what was shaping up to be a nerve-wracking fuel mileage finish, but it set up an overtime, which led to one incredible finish.
Larson, who restarted third, found a way to keep the momentum going in his car from the high lane on the final lap, and he got a run on Buescher heading into the final turns of the race.
As the two came off of Turn 4, they made contact a couple of times, and they crossed the line nearly at the exact same time.
An incredible finish, and just behind the finish was a crash on the final lap involving Austin Dillon and Corey Heim.
It appears from an on board camera shot from Bubba Wallace's car that Tyler Reddick initiated contact with Dillon, which sent the No. 3 machine into Heim's No. 43 car. This sent Heim into the infield grass, and sent Dillon into the outside wall.
There you have it, all of the impactful moments from what was an incredible AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.