Controversy erupts after historic NASCAR finish when fans notice the finish line is crooked: 'Roughly 1 inch'

Controversy erupted at the Kansas Speedway late Sunday after NASCAR witnessed a historic finish.

A late race-caution sent the AdventHealth 400 into overtime, setting up a fantastic two-lap shootout to the checkered flag. On the overtime restart, driver Chris Buescher took the lead and seemed poised for his first win of the season, leading driver Kyle Larson into the final turn. But Larson somehow managed to drive to Buescher's outside — and it was a drag race to the start-finish line.

What happened next was the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history: a margin of victory of 0.001 seconds or "roughly 1 inch," according to NASCAR.

At first, it looked like Buescher had prevailed. His transponder — a device NASCAR uses for timing and scoring — had registered him ahead of Larson.

But after NASCAR officials checked their high-speed cameras at the finish line, they determined that Larson won the race. But controversy quickly erupted when fans noticed the finish line painted onto the race track is not straight.

It turns out, according to NASCAR reporter Jeff Gluck, that the finish line painted onto the racing surface is not the exact finish line.

Instead, high-speed cameras set up in the pit area shoot a "laser" toward the finish line, and that line is the one that counts as the official start-finish line. The high-speed cameras "take photos at about 6,000-8,000 frames per second when any car crosses the finish line," explained Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass.

In fact, the technologyis the same laser technology used at the Kentucky Derby.

The picture that NASCAR officials used to determine that Larson had won clearly shows his No. 5 car ahead of Buescher's No. 17 car.

"They showed us the picture they create using the lasers. We were just wondering if they were using the painted line or not — they don't," said Scott Graves, crew chief for Buescher's team. "It's actually they have a photo system that is a lot more accurate than that. They showed us the picture of it, and it is what it is."

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