NASCAR Crash Course: Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher produce another epic Kansas finish
NASCAR Crash Course: Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher produce another epic Kansas finish
NASCAR has often been criticized for trying to force Game 7, buzzer-beater type moments. Historic finishes need to happen organically for fans to award them the legendary status they deserve.
Those type of endings don’t come around often. Yet in this quirky 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, the sport has already produced two of them.
Just 10 races after Atlanta, where Daniel Suarez won a three-wide battle to the line by three one-thousandths of a second, NASCAR hit the photo finish camera again for a battle that left four drivers with a shot at it.
It’s how the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway ended, with Kyle Larson eventually declared the winner after Chris Buescher appeared ahead to the naked eye. Less than a foot, it seemed, was the margin of victory for a race that ended in overtime, produced 27 lead changes and strong performances from all three manufacturers in the field.
Could anyone in the stands have asked for anything more?
“You guys got your money’s worth today,” Kyle Larson shouted on the loudspeaker to fans after the race. “I’m just proud to be a part of the show.”
The wild ending replaced another one down the stretch as Martin Truex Jr. appeared ready to battle Denny Hamlin for the victory. But a late-race spin by Kyle Busch reset the field, forcing everyone to pit for one last stop prior to overtime.
That gave other drivers a fresh opportunity. Truex dropped to 10th, taking four tires while the top nine took just two. And when Hamlin struggled to gain traction on the restart, fading to an eventual fifth-place finish, Buescher darted ahead with Larson in tow as the white flag waved over the field.
What happened next will be etched in the chapters of NASCAR history forever.
“I figured I’ll try and run up the racetrack in [Turns] 1 and 2 and build a run,” Larson explained. “And my run was better than I was expecting.
“[Buescher] got kind of looking in the mirror and he entered a little bit lower into [Turn] 3, and I was able to have that momentum with some clean air to get to his right side.”
What happened next? Watch one more time for yourself.
To Buescher’s credit, as Larson came up the outside of him the Ford driver chose to race clean. It was a refreshing change for Larson from last year’s Kansas race, where Denny Hamlin turned him on the final lap to scoot by and win.
That gave Larson enough momentum off Turn 4 to make it competitive. As Buescher realized it, his move to beat on Larson’s door gave Chase Elliott and Truex, a rocket ship on fresher tires, an outside chance to pass them both.
“Gave him half a lane too much, I suppose,” Buescher said of Larson’s move in Turn 3. “But good, hard race right there down to the line.”
Initial confusion reigned as the checkered flag flew, NASCAR’s timing and scoring system initially listing Buescher ahead of Larson. But as Buescher’s No. 17 car prepped for a burnout, a closer look showed it was the No. 5 car ever-so-slightly out in front at the line.
“It sucks to halfway celebrate down the backstretch,” Buescher explained, “And then pull up to the front straightaway and get told no.”
“I saw [Buescher] driving away,” Larson added. “So I’m like, well, he must have just got the call that he didn’t win… it was just wild. I’ve never been a part of a finish like that in a stock car. Just really cool.”
Hard to see anyone else arguing differently, even if their own favorite driver didn’t win.
Traffic Report
Green: Noah Gragson. Behind the frantic finish, Gragson clocked in a ninth-place result to produce his third-straight top 10 for Stewart-Haas Racing. A driver kicked out of the sport in a way Larson was back in 2020 is now busy writing his own comeback story, posting as many top-10 finishes this year (five) as the rest of his three SHR teammates combined.
Yellow: Chris Buescher. You have to give this one to Buescher for how much that 0.001 seconds could affect his postseason bid. 54 laps led could spark this team but it was just the second top-five of Buescher’s season, leaving him just 33 points above the postseason cutline. A victory could have put to rest a summer’s worth of playoff anxiety ahead.
Red: Austin Cindric. An innocent victim in a wreck during the final stage, Cindric’s DNF was still his ninth finish outside the top 15 in the last 10 races. When your owner is Roger Penske and your two teammates are Cup champions, that’s simply unacceptable, dead stop.
Speeding Ticket: James Small. Both Truex and Small were gracious in defeat, claiming one day a late caution won’t keep them from victory lane. Circumstances always conspire to work against them.
But that’s not the full story. Small made a bad choice, picking four tires on pit road instead of two, that left Truex too far back to take the win. It’s part of a pattern the last three years where Small has a whiff at the wrong moment, leaving up to a half-dozen victories on the table.
It’s too late in Truex’s career to make a change — he’s likely in his final full-time season — and the duo insist they like working together. That said, the eight victories they’ve produced in four-plus years trails badly the 24 Truex had with former head wrench Cole Pearn over nearly the same timeframe.
Oops!
Jimmie Johnson took the day’s hardest hit, bumped hard by Corey LaJoie after slowing for what appeared to be smoke in front of him entering Turn 1 at the start of the final stage.
LaJoie was so surprised by what happened in front of him he questioned on the radio why Johnson “stopped.”
The seven-time champion said he was simply slowing “to make the turn.”
“I just had contact from behind,” Johnson said. “Really nothing I can do at that point. I know it wasn’t on purpose, but it’s unfortunate… I’m definitely not happy… a little more awareness in that situation would be good.”