After witnessing the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history — a finish so close that the transponder of the second-place car tripped NASCAR’s timing and scoring first — you’d think this column would be about the closest finishes in the history of Cup, right?
Well, I already covered that after Daniel Suarez beat second-place Ryan Blaney and third-place Kyle Busch to the finish line by 0.003 and 0.007 seconds, respectively, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February. I again touched on the closest finishes in NASCAR’s top three divisions after Sam Mayer beat Ryan Sieg to the line by 0.002 seconds in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in April.
What more is there to say, other than to marvel at the privilege of seeing not one, not two, but three of the closest finishes in NASCAR history in just the span of nine weeks?
You do have to feel for Chris Buescher and the RFK Racing No. 17 team. The transponder picked them up as the winner and they began celebrating the win that ultimately wasn’t. Sunday’s (May 5) Advent Health 400 marked yet another agonizing defeat for Ford in a 0-for-30 drought to start the season and the manufacturer has now lost three races this year by a combined 0.006 seconds.
Three races where a Ford led at the white flag, only to lose out 12 turns later by mere inches.
But the night belonged to Kyle Larson, who picked up a milestone 25th Cup victory and dethroned Ricky Craven as the winner of the closest finish in Cup history.
And who else would it be but Larson in victory lane? He’s quickly putting together a dominant season, with two wins, five top-three finishes, six stage wins, 143 stage points and 634 laps led in the first 12 races. He currently leads the regular season standings with a 29-point lead over Martin Truex Jr., and at his current rate, Larson would be on pace to lead 1,902 laps this season. It’s a mark that would shatter the 1,127 laps he led last year, which marks the most led by any driver through the first two seasons of the Next Gen car.
Sunday also marks Larson’s second win at Kansas since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021. He’s been absolute money every time he hits the track.
He’s the only two-time winner at Kansas since the start of his Hendrick tenure and in his last seven starts in the Heartland, Larson has led the most laps four times, has had the highest average running position (ARP) of all drivers three times and has had the most fastest laps of all drivers twice (races where he led the field in said statistic are bolded and colored red in the chart below).
| Kansas Race | Finish | ARP | Fastest Laps | Laps Led |
| May 2021 | 19th | 3 | 67 | 132 |
| Oct. 2021 | 1st | 2 | 36 | 130 |
| May 2022 | 2nd | 6 | 19 | 29 |
| Sept. 2022 | 8th | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| May 2023 | 2nd | 7 | 30 | 85 |
| Sept. 2023 | 4th | 7 | 50 | 99 |
| May 2024 | 1st | 3 | 28 | 64 |
Larson’s led 539 laps in his last seven Kansas starts, which amounts to 28.8% of all the total laps he’s run.
When looking at the drivers who have had led the most laps at Kansas since 2021, no one even comes close to total that Larson’s put up.
| Driver | Kansas Laps Led (Since ’21) | Wins | Starts |
| Kyle Larson | 539 | 2 | 7 |
| Denny Hamlin | 175 | 1 | 7 |
| Kurt Busch | 120 | 1 | 3 |
| Alex Bowman | 107 | 0 | 6 |
| Chase Elliott | 104 | 0 | 7 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 103 | 0 | 7 |
| William Byron | 101 | 0 | 7 |
| Tyler Reddick | 100 | 1 | 7 |
| Brad Keselowski | 98 | 0 | 7 |
Starting with his dominant victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2022, Larson has scored four wins, led 1,097 laps and led the most laps seven times in his last 11 starts on 1.5-mile tracks for an average of 99.7 laps led per race.
And in all but one occasion, Larson either won, finished in the top five or crashed out.
| Date | Track | Finish | Laps Led | Total Laps of Race |
| Oct. 2022 | Homestead | 1st | 199 | 267 |
| March 2023 | Las Vegas | 2nd | 63 | 271 |
| May 2023 | Kansas | 2nd | 85 | 267 |
| May 2023 | Charlotte | 30th (crash) | 1 | 400 |
| Sept. 2023 | Kansas | 4th | 99 | 268 |
| Sept. 2023 | Texas | 31st (crash) | 99 | 267 |
| Oct. 2023 | Las Vegas | 1st | 133 | 267 |
| Oct. 2023 | Homestead | 34th (crash) | 96 | 267 |
| March 2024 | Las Vegas | 1st | 181 | 267 |
| April 2024 | Texas | 21st | 77 | 276 |
| May 2024 | Kansas | 1st | 64 | 268 |
Talk about domination.
And what’s the next 1.5-mile track on the schedule? The Coca-Cola 600, where Larson will be the first NASCAR driver since Kurt Busch in 2014 to attempt double duty at the 600 and the Indianapolis 500.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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