The ten closest finishes of the 2024 NASCAR season

NASCAR is known for its nail-biting finishes, and this year was one for the history books. All three national divisions — Truck, Xfinity, and Cup — had races come down to a winner crossing the line just a few thousandths of a second ahead of their competitor. 

Now, this list is usually dominated by drafting tracks, and while they do make up about half of this year’s top ten highlight, but it was a popular 1.5-mile oval that topped this list. It’s actually the first time since 2017 that a track other than a drafting track has claimed the No. 1 spot. But before we highlight the closest finish ever, we have a few more to get to first… .

10. Xfinity at Talladega – Jesse Love vs. Riley Herbst – 0.141s 

Note: A Truck race at Bristol also featured a 0.141s margin of victory, but we chose ‘Dega as it was the more dramatic of the two finishes

The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie of the year, Jesse Love, claimed his one and only victory of the season at Talladega. While he powered ahead of Brennan Poole, Riley Herbst charged from outside the top-five and snagged second place with a four-wide move up the middle. While those two squabbled over the first loser, Love was left to capture the checkered flag.

9. Trucks at Texas – Kyle Busch vs. Corey Heim – 0.112s

No one thought this would be the last time we saw Kyle Busch in Victory Lane this year, but that would be his fate. No driver has more wins than KB in Xfinity or Trucks, and he collected his 66th victory in the Trucks earlier this year at Texas. Though Corey Heim nearly got alongside Busch after harassing him for a few laps, he just couldn’t quite get there in the end.

Kyle Busch, Spire Motorsports, Realtree Chevrolet Silverado and Corey Heim, TRICON Garage, Safelite Toyota Tundra

Photo by: Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images

8. Xfinity at Atlanta – Austin Hill vs. Chandler Smith – 0.106s

Cars were running out of fuel all over the place in NASCAR overtime, but not Austin Hill. He charged from fourth to first and held off Chandler Smith with oval rookie Shane van Gisbergen in tow. Despite the chaos of the finish, it was still expected that Hill would pull it off, as he usually does at the reconfigured Atlanta. The driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet has won four of the last five races there, and remains one of the best pack racers in the lower leagues of the sport.

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