AdventHealth 400 Race Results
Kansas Speedway
May 5th, 2024
Race
- OVERALL
- Lap 25
RESULTS
START POS
FINAL STATUS
LAPS COMPLETED
LAPS LED
POINTS
PLAYOFF POINTS
-
POS 1 | LEADER
![headshot of Kyle Larson]()
POS1
LEADER
Kyle Larson
| -
POS 2 | 0.001
![headshot of Chris Buescher]()
POS2
0.001
Chris Buescher
| -
POS 3 | 0.060
![headshot of Chase Elliott]()
POS3
0.060
Chase Elliott
|
Kyle Larson beats Chris Buescher to line at Kansas in closest Cup Series finish of all time
After Kyle Busch‘s spin on Lap 261 of a scheduled 267 sent the race to overtime, Buescher took the lead on the restart of the two-lap shootout, only to have Larson pull even on the backstretch on the final lap.
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Larson‘s No. 5 Chevrolet and Buescher‘s No. 17 Ford banged doors twice coming to the finish line. Buescher held the edge a foot from the stripe, but Larson surged ahead to win in a photo finish, with timing and scoring showing a margin of 0.001 seconds.
The victory was Larson‘s second of the season, his second at Kansas and the 25th of his career. The win was the sixth this season for Hendrick Motorsports, the most in the NASCAR Cup Series so far this year.
“That was wild,” said Larson, who had faded from second to fourth before Busch‘s spin. “I was obviously thankful for that caution. We were dying pretty bad. Was happy to come out third (off pit road), and figured my best shot was to choose the bottom and try and split three-wide to the inside.
SHOP: Get race winner gear
“Worked out my car turned well and was able to get some runs. Got through (Turns) 1 and 2 really good down the backstretch and had a big tow on Chris, and got him to kind of enter shallow, and I just committed really hard up top.
“Wasn’t quite sure if we were going to make it out the other side. I got super loose in the center, and then we’re just trying to… I’m trying not to get too far ahead of him to where he can side-draft, and then I was just trying to kill his run. It was crazy.”
In the frenzied overtime, Chase Elliott was third, 0.059 seconds behind Larson, followed by Martin Truex Jr., who trailed the leader by 0.075 seconds.
The caution for Busch‘s spin negated the fuel-saving measures that had dominated the race’s final stage. The lead-lap cars pitted en masse on Lap 263, with most taking right-side tires only and Truex opting for fresh rubber on all four corners.
Fifth-place finisher Denny Hamlin was first off pit road and chose the bottom lane for the overtime restart with Larson behind him and Buescher to his outside. But Larson ducked to the inside entering Turn 1, abandoning Hamlin and allowing Buescher to surge into the lead.
Buescher, who scored his first career top five on an intermediate speedway, held the top spot until Larson surged ahead by a half-car-length on the backstretch to set up the wild drag race to the finish line.
“That sucks to be that close,” said Buescher, who overcame a penalty for a pit crew member over the wall too soon during the Stage 2 break. “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.
“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.”
The race featured 27 lead changes among 10 drivers and seven cautions for 43 laps. Except for stage breaks, the race ran caution-free until Lap 176, when contact from Corey LaJoie‘s Chevrolet sent seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson spinning in a three-car accident that slowed the race for seven laps.
Three more cautions followed in rapid succession, creating varying strategic options as drivers either chose to pit for fuel or to stay out. Truex, who had ample fuel, was closing fast late in the race on then-leader Hamlin, who was saving gas when the caution for Busch‘s spin forced the overtime.
Pole winner Christopher Bell ran sixth, followed by Alex Bowman, Busch, Noah Gragson (scoring his third straight top 10) and Michael McDowell.
“That race from start to finish was amazing,” said Larson. “That first stage was incredible. The second stage at the end was fun, and then that whole last stage with the wrecks and cautions and then fuel strategy and tires running long and all that was wild.
MORE: 2024 Cup standings | 2024 Cup schedule
The Cup Series shifts to the Carolinas for the rest of May, with the Darlington throwback race on tap next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage at Kansas concluded without issue, confirming Larson as the race winner. No vehicles will be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for further inspection.