Victory was quite literally less than one inch away for The Blue Oval at Kansas Speedway on May 5th, 2024, but unfortunately, Christ Buescher’s No. 17 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse was on the wrong side of the line when the checkered flag waved. In fact, he’ll go down in history as the one who lost the closest finish in NASCAR history to date.
When Kyle Busch spun the No. 8 Chevy Camaro ZL1 out with just six laps left on the board, the field was slowed under caution, setting the stage for a NASCAR Overtime finish. After the frontrunners elected to pit, Buescher shot forward, pacing the No. 5 Camaro of Kyle Larson as they streaked toward the checkered flag. The two race cars banged doors twice but managed to hold it together.
With the stripe in sight, Buescher threw the No. 17 NASCAR Ford low, dipping onto the apron as Larson stuck to a higher line. The two race cars were locked in a drag race to the finish, and while Buescher’s transponder initially showed him in the lead at the finish line, a photo finish review showed the splitter of Larson’s No. 5 Camaro ahead just slightly.
The margin of victory? Just 0.001 seconds. And thus, Ford’s winless streak continues.
“That sucks to be that close,” said Buescher after the race. “It was a great finish for us, a really strong day. A lot of speed in this Castrol Edge Ford Mustang, and we really needed that. Needed a win more, and I thought might have had that one.
He added, “Had a lot of speed there firing off. We were really good really all day, and really proud of that. Had some good strategy to get us back up there and tried to cover what I could and gave him half a lane too much, I suppose, but good hard race right there down to the line. But, yeah, it just hurts.”
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 268 | 64 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
2 | 12 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Castrol Edge Ford | 268 | 53 | Ford Mustang |
3 | 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
4 | 13 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 268 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
5 | 14 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 268 | 71 | Toyota TRD Camry |
6 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Yahoo! Toyota | 268 | 5 | Toyota TRD Camry |
7 | 18 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
8 | 5 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet | 268 | 14 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
9 | 3 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford | 268 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
10 | 8 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 268 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
11 | 30 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Consumer Cellular Ford | 268 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
12 | 26 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford | 268 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
13 | 29 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Family Dollar Toyota | 268 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
14 | 25 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Long John Silver's Ford | 268 | 4 | Ford Mustang |
15 | 17 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Overstock.com Ford | 268 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
16 | 21 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Minute Rice Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
17 | 23 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | MoneyLion Toyota | 268 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
18 | 35 | 51 | Justin Haley | Children's Mercy Hospital Ford | 268 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
19 | 2 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Busch Light Crocs Chevrolet | 268 | 43 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
20 | 15 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Monster Energy Toyota | 268 | 7 | Toyota TRD Camry |
21 | 10 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford | 268 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
22 | 20 | 43 | Corey Heim(i) | Dollar Tree Toyota | 268 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
23 | 36 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
24 | 22 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Delaware Life/Creative One Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
25 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
26 | 28 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
27 | 27 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Choice Privileges Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
28 | 32 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 268 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
29 | 24 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
30 | 33 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | LA Golf Chevrolet | 268 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
31 | 38 | 16 | Derek Kraus | projectwyoming.com Chevrolet | 268 | 6 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
32 | 6 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | SiriusXM Toyota | 267 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
33 | 34 | 33 | * Austin Hill(i) | United Rentals Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
34 | 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
35 | 37 | 15 | Riley Herbst(i) | Monster Energy Zero Sugar Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
36 | 31 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 262 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
37 | 7 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Snap on Ford | 184 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
38 | 19 | 84 | * Jimmie Johnson | AdventHealth Toyota | 175 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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