Two races remain in the Cup season but it already has been a memorable year for the number of fantastic finishes.
Six races have seen a pass for the lead on the last lap — the most in a Cup season all-time.
This season also has had five races with a margin of victory of a tenth of a second or less. Only one season has has more such finishes since the advent of electronic timing and scoring in 1993. The 2007 season had six finishes with a margin of victory of a tenth of a second or less.
Maybe the list will grow with the Round of 8 concluding this weekend at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC) and the Nov. 10 championship race at Phoenix.
For now, here are the five best finishes of the season:
1. Homestead — Tyler Reddick’s spectacular rally
Tyler Reddick went from third to first on the last lap to win Sunday’s Round of 8 playoff race and advance to the Championship 4 for the first time in his Cup career.
What makes this No. 1 in a season of stellar finishes is that Reddick did it on tires that were a couple of laps older than the leaders. At most places, that doesn’t mean much but it does at Homestead.
Christopher Bell called Reddick’s victory “pretty remarkable” because Reddick succeeded on older tires.
Ryan Blaney led the last lap and dropped down a lane in Turn 3. He wanted to block Reddick from diving way down the track and sliding in front of him. Instead, Reddick ran up near the wall and blew by Blaney.
“If I drove in that deep that I hit the wall and ripped the right side of it off, so be it,” Reddick told NBC Sports of his approach entering Turn 3.
Reddick’s lap time was more than half a second quicker than Blaney’s lap time on the final circuit.
“Little kid drove his ass off,” 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns about Reddick.
2. Kansas I — Kyle Larson wins in closest finish in Cup history
Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher engaged in one of the more thrilling last-lap duels. Buescher led when the white flag waved but Larson got to the outside of Buescher in Turn 3.
As they came off Turn 4, they made contact twice before Larson beat Buescher by .001 seconds at the finish line.
“It hurts to be that close and miss out,” Buescher said.
Said Larson: “I’ve seen so many times in NASCAR where if the guy has got a run you can just door him and it kind of stops it. That’s what happened, and I got to the start-finish line, had no clue if I won or not.
“I guess I cared but really didn’t honestly care because I was just like, man, that was freaking awesome. I think I asked if I had won or not or if I got him. … Then my spotter was going crazy shortly after that. Yeah, just incredible.”
3. Atlanta I — Daniel Suarez wins three-wide race at finish
Daniel Suarez nipped Ryan Blaney by .003 seconds and Kyle Busch by .007 seconds in the closest three-car finish in series history.
Blaney led when the white flag waved but Suarez charged from the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4. Busch was in the middle and Blaney was on the inside. Suarez built enough momentum to edge Blaney (and Busch) at the finish line.
“I was just trying to time the side draft on (Busch),” Suarez said about coming to the finish line. “I didn’t know where (Blaney) was. I couldn’t see (Blaney). I knew, I thought that I had (Busch). I knew it was close. But I had no idea about (Blaney). No idea.”
4. Talladega II — Ricky Stenhouse triumphs in tight finish
Brad Keselowski led coming off Turn 4 but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got a push from William Byron and moved Keselowski, crossing the finish line ahead of Keselowski by .006 seconds.
That was the third-closest finish of the season and tied for the seventh-closest finish in series history.
“We’ve lost a couple here by inches, so it was cool to win one,” Stenhouse said.
5. Daytona II — Wood Brothers’ dramatic return to Victory Lane
Kyle Busch led on the backstretch of the last lap and was in position to score a victory for a record-extending 20th consecutive season before Parker Retzlaff pushed Harrison Burton into the lead.
Burton blocked Busch off Turn 4 and went on to score his first career Cup victory and the 100th for Wood Brothers Racing.
“When it hit home the most was when I got out of the car and turned around,” Burton said of exiting the car near the start/finish line.
“Everyone that’s laid a finger on this race car, laid a finger on the media side of things, management side of things, on my life as far as raising me, my fiancée has been on my side, I turn around, they’re all right there.
“Watching them all run out and celebrate with me was awesome.”
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